Shadow of the Colossus: The REAL Story
by gamegirl244
Summary: What REALLY happened between the Wanderer, Dormin, Agro, Mono, and the Colossi in the Forbidden Land...-EDIT: STORY COMPLEDED-
1. The Beginning Of The Mayham

Author's Note: I just want to say that this was purely made out of a combination of boredom, Shadow of the Colossus Time Attacks, and sugar. So if anything seems kind of odd…well…yea…

_**Dormin speech**_

_thinking_

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The land had remained silent for many years, the human presence long gone. A tranquil peace had settled in, a double-edged sword in some cases, as the land was vast and plentiful, now home to naught but a few birds and reptiles. Time seemed to stand still in this forgotten land.

But all that was about to change.

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Dormin sighed, using the little power They had to conjure up shadows of the souls of the dead. They made them do tricks, dance, even have mock fights with each other. They sighed. It was always the same thing, ever since back then.

Ever since the humans separated Their essence into the separate fragments and bound it to the land, They could do nothing. Using what little power They had left, They had allowed Their fragmented essence permeate the land, creating colossi. It was almost a way to keep Dormin company, but it also provided Them with an opportunity; if a warrior was foolish enough to come here, They could use said warrior to slay said colossi and reform Their essence. All They had to do was wait.

However, even immortal gods get bored.

Dormin were just in the middle of watching the shadowy souls dance for him, when suddenly, They felt something. Something They hadn't felt in a long time. The presence of others.

Eagerly, Dormin banished the dancing souls back to the next world, awaiting the arrival of this human. In what seemed like no time, They could see a warrior, nay, a wanderer, riding a horse and carrying a bundle, cross the great Bridge that spanned across the land. After the door opened, the Wanderer slowly descended down the spiral staircase. This was it! The chance Dormin were waiting for! In no time, this Wanderer will approach the altar, where They could speak to him, and-

The horse tripped on the last stair, stumbling forward. The Wanderer atop it let out a cry, falling forward and off the horse.

"Agh…" he groaned, then turned to the horse. "You stupid horse! Look what you did!!" The horse whinnied, as if apologizing. "Yea, you'd better be sorry, you- phfppgh!!" At that moment, the Wanderer himself tripped, falling into the pool of water.

'…' Dormin inwardly sighed to Themselves. This didn't sound good…

After recollecting himself, the Wanderer got back onto the horse, riding it into the Main Altar. He looked at the idols in awe.

_Man, it must have taken years to build this place_ he thought. _These idols are huge! These people must have had a LOT of spare time…_

Stopping in the middle of the room, the Wanderer got off his horse, then took the bundle off. He looked around, eyeing the altar.

_That seems like a good spot to put her_ he thought. He approached the altar, setting the bundle down. He then removed the cloth covering it, revealing the body of a young woman.

_So, this human brought a dead girl with him?_ Dormin mused. He eyed the sword at the Wanderer's side. _Could it be…?_ Curious, he summoned a few shadowy spirits.

The horse whinnied, catching the Wanderer's attention. He stared as a bunch of shadowy…things appeared.

"What the hell!?" he exclaimed, then remembered his sword. He drew it slowly, then pointed it at them. Instantly, they dissipated back to wherever it was where dead people went.

_Oh yea. TOTALLY badass._

"**_Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword?"_** Dormin asked, appearing as a light through an opening in the roof.

The look on the Wanderer's face was priceless.

He jumped, looking around, as if expecting a monster to appear. "Who said that?! Show yourself!"

"**_Er…Look up"_**

The Wanderer looked up. "Oh…wait…Are you Dormin?" he asked.

"**_No, We art the man on the moon. Who else would We be??"_**

The Wanderer snorted. "No need to get testy…"

"**_In any case, thou art correct. We art the one known as Dormin"_** Dormin replied.

The Wanderer turned back to the dead girl. "She was sacrificed because she had a cursed fate. Please…I need you to bring back her soul…"

Dormin laughed at the Wanderer. **_"That maiden's soul? Souls that are lost cannot be reclaimed…is that not the law of mortals?"_**

"So? Come on, I traveled all this way, nearly died, you know!"

"**_We seen you on the stairs…With that sword, however…It may not be impossible…"_** Dormin mused. This fool had brought the key to Their prison right to Theirs doorstep. Now all They needed was the right encouragement…

"Really?! Sweet!" The Wanderer said happily. "What do I have to do?"

"**_Behold the idols that stand along the wall. Thou art to destroy all of them. But they cannot be broken by mortal means…"_**

"…So, how am I supposed to break them?"

"**_In this land, there exist Colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi, the idols shall fall."_** Dormin explained.

"So I basically have to kill a bunch of monsters in order to make these giant stone thingies fall?" The Wanderer asked. "That sounds hard…"

"**_Bringing back the souls of the dead is no easy task either…"_**

"But…you can control the souls of the dead…"

"**_Enough!"_** Dormin said in an irritated tone. **_"Just go out and kill them. I shalt revive thy dead girlfriend after"_**

"All righty then…" The wanderer said. He turned to his horse. "Agro!" he called. The horse looked up, then trotted over. He climbed up onto it. "Where do I go, O disembodied god person?"

"**_Our name is Dormin"_** Dormin corrected. **_"Raise thy sword to the light and head to the place where the sword's light gathers"_**

"You mean my sword's got a radar?" The wanderer asked. "Sweet! Lord Emon never said anything about that…"

"**_ENOUGH!" _**Dormin roared. **_"Just follow the light, and begone from my sight!"_**

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Author's Note: Yea…that was pointless…

I promise, once the Colossi get involved, things will be a LOT more interesting, I swear


	2. Problems From The Start

Author's Note: Wow. I didn't know people would like the story as much as they did Thank you for all your kind reviews!

First Colossus shall be featured in this one, so it's BOUND to be interesting.

Also, there's going to be some harsh language in this, and upcoming chapters. Fairly warned be ye, fan boys and girls

Forgot the disclaimer at the first chapter. So here it is: I do NOT own Shadow of the Colossus (except my own copy of it), The Wanderer, Dormin, Mono, Emon, Agro, the lizards, the birds, the colossi, not even Loki the Hawk, because if I did, the ending would be happier. I DO however, own this fanfiction!

_**Dormin speech**_

_Thinking_

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The Wanderer left the temple in a hurry, not to anger Dormin further. He trotted off, riding atop Agro. Stopping a few feet from the entrance, he turned and glanced back at the temple. He frowned.

"Man, that guy's testy!" he said aloud. "First he makes fun of me, then he expects me to kill these 'colossi', whatever the hell they are, and then he yells at me. Who does he think he is?" Agro whinnied a bit, shaking his head.

"Well, might as well get this started with…" The Wanderer mused, raising his sword. The beams of light reflected off, bouncing off into eight different directions. _Let's see…the disembodied voice said to go where the light gathers…_ he thought. He turned, facing south. The beams of light gathered, and seemed to point at some rocky cliffs. _Guess that's where I have to start_ he thought. Kicking at Agro's sides, the pair galloped off towards the cliffs.

Arriving at the base of the cliff, the Wanderer pulled Agro to a stop. He studied the cliff, realizing he would have to leave Agro behind. Getting off, he gently patted Agro on the head.

"Wait here," he said. Agro snorted a bit, but complied. The Wanderer turned to the cliff. Seeing some overhanging moss, he decided to start there. Gripping the moss firmly, he started to climb. A couple times he almost falls, cursing as he did so. Soon, he was at the top of the wall. Walking along the ledge, he came to a spot where the wall was broken, leaving a hole which he could easily jump across. He then climbed up and ran across a few wooden beams, and jumped across to another platform. After a few yards, he ducked under a fallen log, then climbed up a few platforms, finally at the top.

He then came to a large, open valley at the top. He sat down on a rock, catching his breath. However, his rest was short-lived, as what felt like an earthquake's tremors shook him to his senses. The Wanderer got up and looked around, seeing what he originally mistook for a piece of falling rock.

He later realized it was a foot. A big, stony, colossal foot.

The Wanderer stared, wide-eyed, at the beast as it lumbered past him. The creature was _huge_, at LEAST a hundred times his height. His body seemed to be made out of a combination of fur and stone. It wore what appeared to be massive shin guards on its legs, and stony gauntlets on its massive hands. Around its waist was what appeared to be a stone belt, with three jutting pieces of rock, crude platforms, on the back of it. In its right hand it held a large, stone club, the face of it larger than the Wanderer was tall, with many intricate patterns masterfully carved into the weapon. Its appearance seemed human-like, but its feet were actually hooves, and a pair of broken-off horns was atop its head. The Wanderer realized it to be a Minotaur, a beast of legend. All he could do was stare, until a strange prickle at the back of his mind and a voice brought him back to his senses.

"**_Hold thy sword to reflect light upon the colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed…"_** Dormin spoke to him, as if to reassure the Wanderer, who shook his head.

"You want me to kill THAT?!" The Wanderer exclaimed. "You have GOT to be shitting me! It's huge!"

"**_I told thee that thou were to defeat COLOSSI. What did thou think that meant?"_**

"Well, I imagined they were big, just not living mountains!"

"**_Just hold up thy sword. Valus's vitals shall be revealed."_** Dormin repeated.

"Valus? These things have names?"

"_**Yes. Now, hold up thy damned sword."**_

"Can't you give me any better advice??" The Wanderer demanded, but the feeling in the back of his mind was gone, as was Dormin's voice. His argument, however, had stirred the colossus' attention, and was now staring down at the tiny warrior, a 'WTF?' expression on its stony face. Remembering Dormin's words, the Wanderer raised his sword. The beams of light seemed to focus on the creature's head, and a glowing sigil, similar to the design on his cape, appeared. The Wanderer imagined that this was Dormin's doing, to make him know where to attack.

The beams of light seemed to annoy Valus. Its blue eyes turned red, and he arched up his arm, club raised in the air before being swung down, aiming at the Wanderer.

"Oh, shit…"

The Wanderer screamed, then ran out of the way, just as the club came crashing down where he was standing moments ago. He had outrun the blow, but the ground shook violently and crumbled under the force of the blow, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. The colossus stomped the ground near him, almost crushing the Wanderer's head. The Wanderer cowered in the fetal position, but then noticed a patch of fur growing out of the creature's right leg. There seemed to be a small, glowing spot in the middle of the fur. Instantly, he scrambled up, running to the beast's leg and grabbing onto the fur.

Feeling something on its leg, Valus shook his leg violently, trying to dislodge the Wanderer. He was almost thrown off, but held on. Seeing the glow again, the Wanderer raised his sword, then buried it into the creature's leg. Valus roared in pain, curling over in agony. Grinning to himself, the Wanderer repeated his actions, this time causing the giant beast to fall, bracing itself with its giant fist. The wanderer took this opportunity and jumped up the creature's leg, climbing onto the fur on its back.

Valus soon regained itself, and realizing something on its back, began to shake itself off. The wanderer gripped the beast's fur tightly as he was swung to and fro. When the beast's shaking stopped, the Wanderer began to climb again. He was soon on the creature's shoulders, and able to run. However, as soon as he let go, Valus started shaking again.

"GAAAAH!!" the Wanderer screamed, going flying. He soared through the air, landing hard on Valus' other shoulder, where he got a good grip of the beast's fur. Once the thrashing stopped, he immediately scrambled to his head, the sigil glowing brightly. He arched up his sword, but was jostled out of position when Valus decided to thrash about again.

"Will you stop you're goddamn thrashing, you big, hairy bastard!" the Wanderer yelled, lightly stabbing the creature's head. Immediately, Valus let out a cry of pain, ceasing his thrashing. The Wanderer blinked, then took his chance. He raised his sword, then buried it deep into the creature's skull. Valus let out a cry, black blood spraying the Wanderer. Spitting out blood, the Wanderer repeated his actions, stabbing him a second, third, and, after a thrash, fourth time.

Valus let out a final cry as the sigil vanished. Dropping his club, his eyes faded as he began to fall. The Wanderer braced himself atop the creature's head as the ground rushed up to meet with the falling colossus, who hit it, hard. The Wanderer was thrown off, landing a few feet away.

"Oww…" he muttered, standing up slowly. He turned, seeing the Minotaur's body being enveloped by darkness. He couldn't help but smile.

"Yea! How do you like THAT, O disembodied voice?!" the Wanderer goaded, raising his sword in victory. However, it was short-lived, as a bunch of black tendrils burst out from Valus's head. He watched them as they swirled around the air a bit, then darted, right for him.

"Meep" the Wanderer said meekly, then began to run away from the black tendrils. They easily caught up to him, burrowing themselves into his chest.

"Hurgh!" the Wanderer choked, took a step, then fell to the ground, being knocked unconscious.

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Author's Note: WH00T! I'm making good progress with this D Hopefully, I'll be able to write chapter 3 with as much ease as I did this one. Read and Review, please!


	3. A Load Of Bull

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for all your kind reviews! I could have had this up earlier, but…I got lazy. Plus, I was watching Bleach, on Youtube. And Youtube owns a large chunk of my soul. So…

Anyhoo, Chapter 3 is now up! Keep in mind the bad language. So let's get this party started!

_**Dormin speech**_

_Thinking_

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"Ungh…" The Wanderer groaned, slowly opening his eyes, blinking the sleep from them. He took a moment to realize where he was. He was…back at the temple? Wasn't he supposed to be in the stony valley up top the cliff, where he had fought Valus? Slowly, he lifted himself up, looking around.

He looked up at the altar, seeing Mono. Slowly, the Wanderer walked up to her, sheathing his blade. He looked down at her. She seemed peaceful, asleep, despite the fact that she was dead. A rumbling caught the Wanderer's attention. Turning, he saw a bright light emit from the first idol, before it explodes upon itself, quickly reduced to rubble.

_So that's what Dormin meant when he said I the idols would fall…_he thought to himself. He stared at the rubble a bit, before… 

"**_So, thy hath decided to awaken from thy slumber."_** Dormin's voice booms through the opening in the ceiling. **_"We were getting worried, thinking thou were not to awaken…"_**

"Oh, shut up, you disembodied bastard." The Wanderer snaps, glaring up at the light, despite the fact it stung his eyes. "You nearly had me killed!"

"**_Do not blame Us for thy stupidity."_** Dormin scolded. **_"Thou hath said that thy would do what we askest. That is thou problem."_**

"Bullshit! You expected me to kill a mountain!"

"**_A task which thou were able to accomplish. Look at the rubble. That is the remains of an idol. If thou art able to repeat thy actions fifteen more times, then thy deed shalt be done, and thy dead girlfriend shalt be revived."_** At this, the Wanderer fell silent. There WAS some logic behind what Dormin said…

"**_Now, thy next foe is…in the seaside cave…it moves slowly…raise thy courage to defeat it…"_** Dormin said, speaking in a cryptic riddle.

"…Oy" the Wanderer asked.

"_**Hmm?"**_

"Why do you speak in riddles? It would be a lot easier for you to just outright tell me where to go and how to kill these things…"

Dormin made a noise, like a sigh. **_"We cannot divulge such information…"_** They said.

"Why's that?"

"**_Enough! We cannot, and that is reason enough. Now, begone!"_** Dormin ordered. Realizing he couldn't get anymore out of the disembodied god, the Wanderer snorted a bit, then called for Agro. Climbing on, he began to gallop away from the temple.

"Man, I feel sorry for the people who used to worship the guy…" The Wanderer sighed, raising his sword. The lights gathered at what he first thought was the temple, but realized it was behind it, pointing down at a cave at the bottom of a canyon. Kicking into Agro's sides, he rode forward, crossing a narrow land-bridge across the canyon. He soon came to a fork in the path, the left heading into a wide field, the right sloping downward. At this fork, Agro whinnied, rearing back, coming to a halt and, of course, flinging the Wanderer clear off.

"WAAAH!" the Wanderer landed, hard, onto the ground. He got up slowly, then faced Agro. "God damnit, you stupid horse!!" he yelled, pointing at the horse, who only tossed his head, neighing. The Wanderer sighed, climbing back onto the horse. Dormin had said something about a seaside cave, so the Wanderer turned Agro to the right and led him down the slope.

The wind howled eerily in the cove, chilling the Wanderer to the bone. Agro continued on in a slow gallop. They soon approached an area where the sun bathed down onto the sandy beach. The Wanderer looked around, seeing nothing but a stone wall in front of him. No colossus.

"Well, this is just wonderful!" the Wanderer complained loudly. He glared at the temple, pointing menacingly at it. "You bastard! There's nothing here!!" he yelled.

_Thump._

The ground trembled slightly, and Agro gave a nervous whinny. "Eh?" The Wanderer looked around a bit. Still no colossus.

_Thump._

The trembles grew more forceful. Whatever was making them was coming closer. But still no colossus

_Thump. Ka-BOOM!_

The wall in front of them crumbled, as something large and stony burst through.

THERE was the colossus.

This time, the colossus took the form of a giant bull. It had two curved horns atop its stone head, one of which had been snapped off. There was a set of stony ridges along its hairy back. This one was, in fact, hairier than Valus, having hair all over its body except for the region around the stony flesh that was its hooves.

"First a Minotaur, now a giant cow?!" the Wanderer exclaimed. Then, he felt that prickle in the back of his mind, and heard Dormin's voice again.

"**_The place that emits light is its vitals..."_** They told him.

"Can't you give me better advice for once!?" the Wanderer demanded.

"**_Quadratus is a fool, like thyself. Thou shalt be able to defeat him simply…"_**

"Quadratus?"

"**_Yes. I hope that thou hath not only brought thy sword with thee…"_** Dormin warned. **_"Thy shalt need more help than a blade…"_**

"What do you…" the Wanderer began, then remembered. He had also brought his bow and arrows with him. Sheathing his sword, he drew and strung his bow, the feeling of Dormin's presence gone.

Quadratus let out a kind of grunt, stopping in front of the Wanderer and Agro. He kneeled down a bit, then raised up, ready to stomp on the Wanderer.

"Meep…" he said, then realized; the bottom of the bull's hooves were glowing. Glowing meant weak spot! Instantly, the Wanderer readied his bow, shooting an arrow. The first…missed completely. Cursing, he launched two more, then finally, as the hoof was just about to crash into them, a lucky shot connected with the glowing hoof.

The giant bull let out a cry of pain, the shot leg crashing into the sand. Kicking his sides into Agro, he rode up to the side of Quadratus' hairy leg, then jumped, catching a grip of fur. As Agro galloped off, the Wanderer began to climb, tucking away the bow and pulling out his sword.

Just as the Wanderer climbed up onto a jutting piece of what he assumed was bone sticking out from Quadratus' shoulder, the bull heaved itself up, shaking the shot leg a bit before standing. Realizing something was on it, the beast began to shake.

"GAAAH!!" the Wanderer went flying into the air. His vision went spinning, until he caught sight of fur. He grabbed on, waiting for the beast to stop thrashing, which didn't take too long. He soon realized that, somehow, the beast had shaken him on top of its back. Lucky.

Seeing the shining glyph on the bull's head, he rushed over, proceeding to stab the hell out of the bull's head. Quadratus gave out a cry, shaking its head from side to side.

"Gaaah! You're worse than the first guy!!" the Wanderer yelled, stabbing into the beast's head again. After a few more stabs and thrashes, the glyph gave a final shine, before fading. But the creature still stood.

"Eh? The hell!?" the Wanderer said out loud. Quickly, he raised his sword. The beams of light focused on…

"I HAVE TO STAB ITS ASS?!"

Sighing, the Wanderer raced across the beast's back, jumping over a few ledges, before reaching the shiny glyph on the monster's giant backside. Gripping the fur, the Wanderer stabbed at the glyph as fast as his reflexes, and Quadratus' thrashing, could allow. Finally, after this glyph was done for, the beast gave a final cry before toppling over sideways, sending the Wanderer crashing into the sand.

"Oww…damnit…" he groaned, standing up. As Quadratus' body became engulfed in black, he turned pale as the black tendrils shot out again.

"Ah shit…" he groaned, running for it. But he could not out run the tendrils, as they burrowed themselves into his chest, knocking both the wind and is consciousness out of him.

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Author's Note: I KNOW, it's short. And crappy. But gimme a break, I finished this at midnight!!

Anyhoo, thank you all for your kind reviews, and Chapter 4 will be up soon!


	4. Big Sword, Big Bang

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! School started up again, and it's a new semester, so I'm still getting my bearing's straight. However, this means that I won't be able to update all the time. Plus, I have a few new ideas for fanfics, so…

Please forgive me if it's crap.

Anyhoo, here's Chapter 4! Enjoy!

_**Dormin speech**_

_Sound affects_

'_Thinking'_

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The temple shook as a light emit from the second idol, before, with a loud _boom,_ it collapsed into a pile of rubble. The noise awoke the Wanderer, who heaved himself up off the ground with a groan, the memories of the past fight fresh in his mind.

"Oww…" he muttered, feeling a pain in his arm. He looked down at it, finding a large scrape. That would take some time to heal…

"**_Ah, thou hast awoken from thy slumber!"_** Dormin's voice sounded through the opening in the temple roof. **_"Thou hath been doing Us a wondrous deed, thou hast..."_**

"Psh," the Wanderer snorted. "Sure, it's all fine and dandy, sending me to my possible death each time!"

"**_Peace"_** Dormin said. **_"Thy art making good progress. Thou art already at thy third foe."_** The Wanderer looked over at the idols to find the second one destroyed, like the first. He couldn't help but beam at himself.

"**_Now…thy next foe is…"_** Dormin began. **_"A giant canopy soars to the heavens…The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth…"_**

Once again, the Wanderer was lost by the disembodied one's words. He had no clue what the Dormin were talking about. But, even if he asked, he would just get yelled at. So he asked another question that had been plaguing him.

"Oy, disembodied guy…"

"_**We art Dormin, Thou fool!"**_

"Right, right, Dormin. Anyhoo, what are those black things that fly out from the colossi when I kill them?"

For once, the Dormin were silent. Should They dare tell this human of their plight and plot? Should They tell him that They were using his body as a storehouse for Their essence? They were silent for a moment, then…

"**_We art unsure as to what is released from the colossi when they art slain…"_** They said. **_"Perhaps it is the strength of the colossi flowing into thee to grant thou their lost powers?"_** It was a reasonable lie, and he hoped the fool would buy it. And, after a few moments of pondering, he did.

"You mean, they're making me stronger with each kill?" The Wanderer asked. "That means if I kill all of them, I'll be as strong as them!"

"**_Er…possibly…Now, begone with thee!"_** Dormin commanded, before Their voice faded away. They didn't want to dwell on the matter of Their essence with Their portable storehouse. Calling for Agro, the Wanderer climbed on, eagerly kicking into the horse's sides and heading off.

Raising his sword to the light, the Wanderer headed off, heading in the same direction he did with Quadratus. As he passed the land bridge, he looked down, seeing the fallen body of the giant bull. The creature's body had been reduced to a giant mound of dirt and moss, roughly in the shape of the fallen creature. Looking down at it for a moment, he then looked forward, following the sword's light. Instead of turning right down the cliff, he took the left path, emerging onto a wide field.

Following the light, he turned left, heading across some sandy soil towards a jut of rocks. He rode through an opening, through shadows, until he came upon the 'canopy that rose to the heavens'. It was actually a giant disc atop a pillar, with a broken walkway spiraling down into a lake. He got off Agro, patting his side before walking to the lake's surface and diving into it.

After swimming through it, he ran up the broken path. He got to the edge, seeing a gap between the path he was on and the disc. He thought for a moment, then spied an isolated piece of walkway, with some stone jutting out. Hmm…he could probably reach it…

The Wanderer stepped back, then took a running leap, gripping at the edge. He slammed into it, knocking the wind from him and almost losing his hold. Once he recovered, he shimmied around, then leapt from the pillar to the disc, grabbing onto the very edge. He heaved himself up, then ran across the disc. It was then that he saw what he mistook it for a pile of rubble.

Turns out it was just asleep.

Slowly, the beast stood up, using its giant sword (_'Oh SHIT, it's got a giant sword as an arm!!'_ the Wanderer thought to himself) to help it stand up. It was thinner than the other two, and taller. Its legs were complete stone, with no visible hand-holes. Its torso and upper body had hair, but also had what appeared to be stone armor, including a chest plate, shoulder armor, and a big, round wrist brace on its sword arm. The Wanderer stared as the beast began to turn, looking at the small challenger. Remembering his last complications, the Wanderer raised his sword, the beams of light shining to two glyphs, one on its stomach and head. The giant, stony knight then arched its arm back, raising its sword up, then aiming it down at him.

"…Shit"

The Wanderer cried out, running away, just as the sword crashed into the earth, burying itself into the ground. He stared back at the sight as even the colossus had trouble pulling out the giant weapon.

"**_The armor it wears seems brittle…"_** there was that prickle again, and Dormin's voice.

"I don't give a fuck about its armor! It's got a fucking sword!!" the Wanderer screamed at the disembodied god.

"**_Calm thyself. Gaius is a power hungry fool. He shalt swing at anything…"_**

The Wanderer looked around the disc, then noticed something; a large, circular, stone platform. He looked back at Gaius, who was looking for the smaller opponent. _'The armor it wears seems brittle…'_ Dormin's presence left him soon after his realization. Immediately, he ran to the giant disc.

"Oy, stone-faced moron!!" he yelled, pulling out his bow and shooting an arrow at Gaius. The colossus slowly turned, eyes turning red. The beast arched its arm back again and swung down. As he did, the Wanderer booked it…

_Ka-rack!!_

The sword crashed down, and the brace on Gaius' arm broke, revealing a furry path. Smirking, the Wanderer ran around a bit, luring the beast into another attack. This time, when the sword was embedded, the Wanderer ran up to it, stepping on it.

However, just as he did, Gaius gave the sword a lurch, yanking it out.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the Wanderer screamed, soaring through the sky. He realized that Gaius' head was inching closer and closer…when it was finally within grasp, the Wanderer grabbed a hold of some fur, slamming into the beast's head.

(Author's Note: I'd like to point out that this move was NOT thought up by me. For hardcore tricksters and speed runners of the SotC universe, they would know this as the 'Sword-Head Jump'. Basically, you crouch on a certain point on Gaius' sword, and as he lifts it out, at the right moment, you jump, and you go flying into his head. It IS possible, but you need practice with it.)

Recovering from what had just happened, the Wanderer drew his sword. The glyph shined brightly. Gaius was looking around for him, the fool. The Wanderer raised his sword and buried it into the beast's skull. Gaius roared in pain, beginning to shake its head.

"I don't think so!" the Wanderer screamed, stabbing into the creature again. Gaius roared, shaking more furiously, pausing after a moment. This continued for a while until, with a final stab, the sigil glowed and vanished. Instantly, the Wanderer moved, running down from Gaius' head, down its head, sliding down onto the beast's giant, stone belt. He ran around until he saw the glyph. He jumped up and proceeded to stab the living daylights out of it. Gaius thrashed, but to no avail.

Soon, it was over.

Gaius fell forward, being supported by his sword, before falling forward, crashing into the ground. The Wanderer was thrown off, doing a summersault before landing, hard, on his back. Groaning in pain, he slowly sat up…seeing the black 'tentacles of death' swarming out. Groaning, he just sat there, waiting for them to burrow into him and knock him out.

Which they did, without hesitation.

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Author's Note: All right! There's Chapter 4! I won't be able to update as often as I did, what with school and all. I'll try to update as much as possible! Please Read and Review!


	5. SubChapter: Fun With Flash Arrows

Author's Note: Okay! First of all, I'm sorry I didn't update soon. Been busy with school (I still have to finish a science project xX due Tuesday…) and stuff, so…

But I'm back! And in a good mood!

Also, this chapter features NO colossus battle. So those excited to see Phaedra…gomen. I'll add Phaedra later. Right now, it's time for…

A SUB-CHAPTER!!

…..

-ahem- tough crowd…

Anyhoo, sub-chapters will be shorter and mainly for filler. There will be three or four in total, including this one. Hope you enjoy it!

_**Dormin speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

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The temple shook as the third of its sixteen idols, representing Gaius, emitted a bright light before bursting apart, into a pile of rubble. This commotion caused the Wanderer to stir, and he slowly hoisted himself up.

"Oww…" he said to himself, rubbing his head. "That last one was a doozey…"

"**_Ah!" _**Dormin's voice echoed through the temple.

"GAAH!" The Wanderer cried out, falling over. "Not so loud!!"

"**_Forgive Us…"_** They said. **_"But, We art impressed by thou efforts, Wanderer. Now, thy next foe is…"_**

"Woa, woa, woa, hold up here, Dormin thing," The Wanderer said, shaking his head and pointing up at the light. "I've killed three of those…things!" he held up three fingers. "Three!! I THINK I deserve some leverage!"

"…" Dormin remained silent. Well, he DID do Their bidding, even if it wasn't unquestioningly. Perhaps he DID deserve SOME sort of reward…

"**_Very well…perhaps We could giveth thee some sort of reward…"_** Dormin mused. The pool at the back of the pool let off a slight light, and something was dropped in them. The Wanderer, confused, walked over to the pool. There was a small, long bundle in it. He picked it up.

"What's this?" the Wanderer asked, confused that he actually got Dormin to do something for once.

"**_That is a small token of Our appreciation"_** Dormin explained. **_"That is an old tool used by the old civilization of humans. It is called a Flash Arrow"_**

"Flash Arrow?" the Wanderer asked, unfolding the bundle and pulling one out. It looked like a regular arrow, except the tip had a larger, more cylinder tip. There was no point. "But there's no arrowhead…" he said slowly.

"**_Go out unto the entrance, and fire one. Thou shalt see its power…"_** Dormin said, then was gone. Curious, the Wanderer followed Dormin's instructions, heading outside. He drew his bow, notched an arrow, aimed and shot it at a nearby rock. It flew rather slowly for an arrow, which disappointed the Wanderer.

That is, until it hit.

_BOOOOM!!!_

The Wanderer was hurled back by the force of the explosion. Once he recovered, he looked up at the rock, to find it wasn't there anymore. The Wanderer stared in amazement.

Then, a grin spread on his face.

"Agro!!"

As Agro came running, the Wanderer notched another Flash Arrow, aimed at Agro's feet, and fired.

_BOOOOM!!!_

Agro whinnied in shock as the ground under his hooves exploded, hurling him to his side. The Wanderer grinned. This was so cool! Once Agro recovered, he mounted him and rode off, ready for some fun.

----------

He spent the rest of the day firing off his Flash Arrows at the odd monuments, lizards, birds, and frankly anything he could shoot. By the end of the day, he had wasted all his Flash Arrows. Riding on Agro, the Wanderer galloped back to the temple, hoping that Dormin would give him more.

He was wrong.

"**_WHAT HATH THOU BEEN DOING ALL DAY!?"_** Dormin boomed angrily at the Wanderer. **_"WE HATH BEEN FEELING NAUGHT BUT EXPLOSION AFTER EXPLOSION!"_**

Agro whinnied nervously. The Wanderer got off Agro, petting his side, before frowning at Dormin. "What's wrong with you!? You're the one who gave me them!!"

"**_Yes, but We did not expect thou to go o a destruction spree, shooting at anything that crossed thou path!"_** Dormin scolded, toning down a bit.

"Aw, okay, I'm sorry. Can I at lease have more Flash Arrows?"

"_**No!"**_

"…Shit."

"_**Now, silence whilst We tell thou thy next foe…"**_

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Author's Note: Like I said, short. …what?! I'm tired! I was up early and went swimming today, so I'm beat!

Now, to work on that project…

Anyhoo, please read and review, my readers! All three of you out there!


	6. Riding With The Horses, Sort Of

Author's Note: Oy. For some reason, lately, I haven't been in a good mood. Mainly been feeling down or out of it, and haven't been eating much. Today, I actually did housework without being asked to do it, even got mad at my mom for helping me.

Would have done more, but there was nothing left to do.

……

I need some sugar…

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

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"**_Thy next foe is... In the land of the vast green fields... Rows of guiding graves... It is giant indeed but fearful, it is not…"_**

Those were the words that Dormin had told the Wanderer before he was shooed off. The Wanderer had left without much of a fuss, since the disembodied god was upset enough at him for going on his Flash Arrow rampage throughout the Forbidden Land. Dormin had chastised him and scolded him, telling him that he was 'lucky We could not come down and punish thou properly,' as They had said.

After apologizing numerous times, Dormin finally told him the hint as to where to find the next colossus, to which he listened quietly and obediently. He didn't want to be smitten down or turned into a lizard or something.

So here he stood, atop Agro, on a stone ledge that wound down slowly into the 'vast green fields' that Dormin had told him about. In the middle of the field, the land rose up into what he first thought were four hills, but realized they must have been the 'guiding graves,' as each of them were open, leading underground.

Raising his sword, the Wanderer rode through these fields, heading for an outcrop of land that curved away from the fields. They would have been a nice place to have a picnic or something, but they had an ominous feeling to them, like being in a tomb. The Wanderer shuddered slightly as they passed them.

Agro skidded to a halt, whinnying. The Wanderer stroked Agro's mane gently.

"Come on, boy," he said reassuringly. They must be close.

And they were close. Right in front of it, to be precise.

What the Wanderer mistook as an ancient monument was actually a giant horse. As the beast stood up on its long, stony legs, the wanderer realized, in shock, he could not climb up onto it. Its body was almost entirely out of stone, save for the patches of fur on its back. The giant stone horse looked down at the Wanderer and Agro, stony dangles dangling from each side of its head.

"Oh for fuck sakes…" the Wanderer groaned. Seeing as there was no room to fight the colossus here, he kicked his sides into Agro, turning around and heading back for the fields. Once there, he turned back, stopping to wait for the colossus.

DAMN, that thing moved slowly.

Once it decided to get its giant horse ass into the fields, the Wanderer got an idea. Kicking into Agro's sides, he rode straight for one of the graves. Once on it, Agro made to turn away, but the Wanderer instead jumped off, trying to grab onto the giant horse's leg.

He missed completely.

"OWW!" the Wanderer hit the ground, hard. He recovered just in time to see one of the giant stone... 'hooves' coming to step right where he was laying. The Wanderer cried out, rolling to the side, right as the hoof stomped down, a few feet away from his chest. He scrambled up, running away from the colossus' feet. He stared back, sword drawn, panting heavily. Dormin hadn't contacted him yet, and he was nervous. What was he supposed to do!?

And he thought dealing with Agro was a handful...

"**_One strategy to consider is to hide thyself underground…"_** Dormin's voice whispered in the Wanderer's mind, almost so that he didn't hear Them at first. Realizing who it was, the Wanderer nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Dormin!!" he cried, relieved. "I thought you were gonna leave me to die here!!"

"**_Fool,"_** Dormin said, **_"Thou art foolish, like Phaedra. Besides, We woulds not wish for thee to die just yet…"_**

"I don't know if that's a compliment, or an insult, but thanks."

"**_Trickst Phaedra to reach at it's back…"_** Dormin suggested. The Wanderer looked at the horse, Phaedra's back. There was, on its tail, what appeared to be small grips, just enough to climb onto…

Dormin's presence left the Wanderer soon after. They were still upset with his foolishness, but still, They couldn't risk killing their Essence Holder…

The Wanderer immediately ran into one of the hills. He realized that it led to a flat portion of underground. He ran under it for a while, before climbing up some stairs. He emerged, still in the fields, but now under the hill to the right of the one he had run into. Phaedra stomped the hill a bit, then bent down, trying to look where the Wanderer went. Its ridged tail was now low enough for the Wanderer to reach, given he jumped. He scrambled over, jumping up, grabbing onto the lowest ridge. As he jumped up, he couldn't help but think, _'What's the deal with Colossi and their asses??'_

Phaedra didn't realize the Wanderer had scaled it until he was well onto the creature's surprisingly flat back. The horse let out a sound that sounded like a giant whinny, before beginning to buck its giant back. The Wanderer gripped onto Phaedra's fur, holding on until the creature stopped shaking. Once Phaedra calmed down, the Wanderer ran to its neck, spying a small, shiny spot. Immediately, the Wanderer got down, raised his sword, and buried it into the horse's neck. Phaedra let out a cry of pain, shaking its head. The Wanderer stabbed at it again, and this time, the horse lowered its neck, revealing a pathway to the shiny glyph on its head.

"Aha!" the Wanderer cried out, jumping over to Phaedra's head. He landed roughly, sword pointed down and burying itself into the horse's head. Phaedra cried out in pain, shaking its head as the Wanderer pulled out his sword, falling over as he did. He repositioned himself before stabbing at Phaedra again and again. He realized the colossus couldn't fight back very much, and was keeping its neck down, as if it were broken.

One final stab, and Phaedra cried out its last. The horse's eyes faded lifelessly, and it fell to one side, crashing roughly into the ground, knocking the Wanderer off. He went flying into one of the hills, rolling off and hitting the ground.

"Oww…" he muttered, starting to get up, but just as he did, his little 'friends' dropped by for a visit, burrowing themselves into his chest. "OH SON OF A…" he yelled out, before fading into unconsciousness.

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Author's Note: Wow…halfway through writing that, my mood got better :3 Now I feel hyper!!

I have weird mood swings…

Anyhoo, please read and review!!


	7. Look, Ma! I'm Flying!

Author's Note: Wh00t! Teacher's convention!! Four days off!!

-Dances-

Anyhoo, I decided to post this up now. Had a bunch of homework lately, and I've been writing other stories (I DO have other interests you know!!), so I've been a bit behind.

Also, this Saturday, Toys 'R' Us said that they're getting new Wiis in. they open at 9:30 AM. I'll be awake at 6:30 AM, and then once I'm ready, I'll wait in line with my dad for the store to open.

I want a Wii. And Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Hopefully I can get both.

Anyhoo, onto the story!!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

--------------------------------------------------------------

The Wanderer groaned, shifting as he awoke in the Shrine. He stood up, looking at the statues. The second from his left, the one idolizing Phaedra, was destroyed; it now lay in a heap of rubble on the stone floor. The Wanderer turned, looking at Mono, who lay on the altar at the front of the shrine. Agro whinnied slightly, walking over to her. Sheathing his sword, the Wanderer walked up as well, next to Agro.

Stroking the side of Agro's angular face, he looked down at Mono's body. He watched her for a moment, then opened his mouth and said:

"You bitch"

Agro shook his head slightly, as if surprised. The Wanderer frowned at Mono. "I'm risking my life for you, and all you do is lay there! You're not even alive! You'd better appreciate the shit I'm going through to revive you!"

"**_My, my, and We thought that thou loved her…"_** Dormin's voice echoed through Their hole in the roof.

The Wanderer snorted slightly, looking up at the hole. "Yea, I do. But this is bullshit. Can't you revive her first??"

"**_No"_** Dormin stated simply.

"Why not?!"

"_**Because, it is more enjoyable to Us this way…"**_

"WHAT!?" the Wanderer yelled. "You mean to tell me I'm you're _entertainment_?! The hell's wrong with you!?"

Dormin laughed slightly. **_"We art only fooling thou. We art merely testing thy strength, to see if thou art worthy of a favor from Us…"_** once again, a lie, but a reasonable one at that. The Wanderer growled slightly. He didn't like this disembodied bastard, or his logic.

"**_Now…thy next foe is…it casts a colossal shadow across a misty lake as it soars through the sky…to reach it is no simple task…"_** Dormin's voice faded after saying that. Climbing onto Agro, the Wanderer rode off, following the beams from his sword.

-----------------

After some time traveling (which included some events the Wanderer would rather not recollect…), Agro skidded to a halt outside a small body of water. Seeing as how the horse could not continue on, the Wanderer slipped off. Petting the horse's side, the Wanderer set off for the water. He dove in, thankful that he was a strong swimmer. As he swam forward, he dove under the water, swimming under a stone wall.

Once he resurfaced on the other side, he spotted some ledges he could climb up on. After making his way up them, he ran across a stone bridge. He soon came to a gated-off platform with a hole in the corner, overlooking a large lake filled with ruins. He looked around, waiting.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._ The sound of wing beats could be heard, and suddenly, a giant bird flew in from above. The beast flew down into the lake basin before perching itself onto a ruin.

The Wanderer blinked watching it. "Heh! This'll be easy! I'll just make it come to me!" he said. He whistled for the creature, to get its attention.

It didn't move.

Frowning, the Wanderer tried again. It still didn't move.

"**_Use thy bow and arrow to gain Avion's attention…"_** Dorrin spoke to the Wanderer, making him jump.

"It would help if there was some warning whenever you spoke, you know!!" the Wanderer exclaimed.

"**_Silence, fool." _**Dormin scolded. "**_Stand on the platform on the surface of the lake to draw its attack..."_** he said, then faded away. The Wanderer scowled. That bastard was getting skimpier and skimpier with his help. Still, the Wanderer looked around, before spotting three small, square platforms on the surface of the lake. Grinning, the Wanderer jumped through the hole of the platform he was on, dropping into the water below. After resurfacing, he swam over to them.

Heaving himself up onto the middle platform, the Wanderer drew his bow. Aiming at Avion, he let an arrow fly. It whizzed through the air, clinking against the bird's stone wing. That seemed to annoy the beast, as it flapped its wings, rising up slightly before diving straight at the Wanderer. The Wanderer gulped nervously, but noticed a patch of green fur on the wings. Timing himself, he stood his ground, drawing his sword, and then jumped; he landed with a thud against the wing as the bird swooped upward.

The bird pumped its wings, raising itself up into the air. The Wanderer cried out and hung on for dear life as he was tossed to and fro atop the wing. Finally, the bird started to glide at a slow and steady pace. Climbing onto the bird, he raised his sword, looking for weak spots. He found three; one on each wingtip and a third at the tip of its tail. The Wanderer scurried over to the wingtip he was on, arched up his sword, and stabbed. He was surprised; it went out with a single stab.

Avion screeched, wing giving a violent jolt. The bird did a barrel-roll, trying to shake off the Wanderer. He almost WAS thrown off, but he held. When the bird straightened, he let go and ran across to the other wing, stabbing it as well. Another screech, and another barrel-roll, and all that was left was the sigil on its tail. The Wanderer made to move, but the damned bird chose then to start flapping. The Wanderer hung on, but as Avion raised its wing, the Wanderer couldn't hold on and was thrown off.

"WAAAAAAAA-oof…" the Wanderer landed, hard, on, ironically, Avion's tail.

(Author's Note: Yet again, another Speed Run tactic. I have yet to actually achieve this one; I keep falling off XD)

The Wanderer blinked in confusion, then shook his head and ran over to Avion's tail. This turned out to be easier than the wings, and soon, the Wanderer delivered the final stab. Avion screeched out, falling forward, straight into the water. It collided with a stone ruin, its back snapping upon impact. Avion's body sank into the lake as the Wanderer rose to the surface.

He waited a while, waiting for the tendrils. He smirked when they didn't come. Sheathing his sword, he began to swim away…

…Only to be assaulted from behind.

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Author's Note: Finally! Well, here's chapter 7 for y'all! I have other stories I've written, and I'm gonna use this break to try to post a few more. If you're interested, then by all means read away! If not, well…read and review!


	8. The Big, Hairy Giant

Author's Note: FWEEEEEEEEEE!!! I GOT MY WII!!!

Though I wasn't able to get Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess…and had to wait in line for two hours in the cold…

BUT I GOT MY WII!!!

And I'm so happy, I decided to write this chapter!!

Also, I've started to get lazy, writing about how the Wanderer just runs to each colossus, so I've decided to cut each part out. Why? Cause, I'm lazy

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

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"**_WAKE UP!!!"_** Dormin's voice boomed throughout the temple, jolting the Wanderer from his sleep. He immediately scrambled up, sword drawn, looking around.

"What…? What happened?!" the Wanderer demanded, looking around.

"**_Hmmm…perhaps We should use THAT method to wake thee…"_** Dormin mused to Themselves, causing the Wanderer to fall over comically.

"You did that just to wake me up!?" he demanded. "The hell's wrong with you!?"

Dormin chuckled. **_"Now that thou art awake…thy next foe is…"_** the Wanderer sighed. He wouldn't be able to get any reason from this bastard, so he just listened quietly. **_"A giant lurks underneath the temple... It lusts for destruction... But a fool, it is not…"_** Dormin fell silent after that. Nodding in confirmation, the Wanderer climbed onto Agro and rode off.

------

The Wanderer soon found himself inside a giant temple. After traversing over the land with Agro, he had to leave him behind, and was now looking down what appeared to be a giant wall, leading into the room. Looking down, he eyed a few footholds. Grabbing onto them, he slowly began to descend.

As he made his way down the wall, he slipped about a third of the way.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-OOW!!" the Wanderer cried out, landing hard on the stone floor. "God damn it…"

_Rumblerumblerumble._

The whole of the temple rumbled as the wall that the Wanderer had just climbed down began to lower. The Wanderer looked up from his spot on the ground and stared, in fear, at the pair of glowing blue eyes that peered down at him.

At first, the Wanderer thought it was a giant monkey. It turned out it was just a large, hairy, human-like beast with a long beard. The beast looked down at the Wanderer, then started to lurch forward; heading right for him.

"Meep"

The Wanderer scrambled to his feet and began to run; the colossus followed. The Wanderer ran, then collided with a large, stone barrack. He fell back, and would have said something then, but right now, he had to worry about the bearded giant behind him. Quickly, he climbed the barrack, and just as he jumped down on the other side, the colossus walked through it as if it were made of sticks.

"Ah shit…" the Wanderer groaned, running for the next barrack. After climbing over it, he ran for the next one, just in time to hear the second one being smashed…or should I say, _walked_ through. He climbed the final barrack and darted forward, heading underneath an undercroft (I think that's what it's called…).

The colossus barreled through the final barrack, looking for the Wanderer. The Wanderer drew his sword, and as he did, he could faintly see a glyph appear on the creature's back, as well as the familiar glow from its head. All right, he knew where to stab.

The only problem was getting up there.

The Wanderer didn't have to wait long, as the colossus kneeled down, looking for the Wanderer. The Wanderer blinked, then grinned. He ran forward, leaping up and grabbing at the giant's beard. As the beast straightened itself, the Wanderer was already at its head.

Raising his sword, the Wanderer buried it into the giant's skull. The colossus let out a howl of pain, and just as the Wanderer buried his sword again, it began to thrash its head to and fro. The Wanderer held on for dear life, yelling a stream of VERY inappropriate curses at the giant. He continued this routine until the glyph was gone.

Instantly, the Wanderer jumped down from its head down to its back, where the giant glyph shone brightly. This had become second-nature for the Wanderer, running from glyph to glyph, tracking, climbing, and slaying these beasts. The bearded giant thrashed and shook, but to no avail; soon, the blade stabbed down for a final time, and the bearded giant fell. Hard.

The Wanderer shakily got up and slowly pulled his sword from the beast's back. Sheathing the blade, he looked around. For the first time, Dormin had not contacted him. Perhaps They were gaining more confidence in him? Or did They not see him as something They should pay attention to?

His musing was cut short as the black tendrils embedded themselves into his body, and he fell, hard.

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Author's Note: well, that was something.

I'm getting lazier with my posts…

Anyhoo, read and review. Nobody did last time…I'm upset ;-;


	9. A Fishy Situation

Author's Note: Heya!!

Okay, I know I haven't been on lately. I got to rent Twilight Princess…it's been owning my life…

Anyhoo, I'm in a good mood today, so I wrote this. I can only write these kinds of stories when I'm in a good mood, so…

Anyhoo, on we go!!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Wanderer slowly awoke to the sound of the sixth idol imploding upon itself. He heaved himself up, sword still in hand from the last fight, all covered in blood.

"Eww…" the Wanderer grimaced, and walked over to the small pool of water in the back of the Shrine. He dipped the black-blood soaked sword into the water, washing it clean. When the sword regained its shiny radiance again, the Wanderer stripped off his clothes and washed them as well, doing his best to clean out the blood, sweat, and grime, but with little success. When fully clothed again, the Wanderer heard the familiar rumbling of Dormin coming to greet him.

"**_Ah, thou hath tried to cleanse thyself, hath thou not?"_** Dormin asked. The Wanderer growled, pointing the newly-washed sword up at the disembodied god.

"Shut up, you disembodied bastard!!" he roared. "You didn't even offer me any advice that last fight!!"

"**_Barba posed no serious threat to thee…"_** Dormin reasoned.

"Bullshit!" the Wanderer shot back. "He walked through stone barracks! THROUGH! STONE! BARRACKS! I think that would call for a LITTLE help!!"

"**_ENOUGH!!!"_** Dormin boomed, Their voice rumbling through the shrine. By the entrance, Agro whinnied and reared up in fear. **_"We thought that thou would serve Us well, but We were mistaken!"_** They scolded. **_"Thou does naught but complain and whine like a child! Does thou think that thy actions are alone enough for Us to grant thee a wish?? Thou art hardly worth completing Our simple task!"_**

"Simple!?" the Wanderer gasped. "YOU aren't the one who's going out risking his neck to kill these things! YOU aren't the one who's overcoming dramatic odds and being violated by black tendrils of death!"

Dormin sighed inwardly to Themselves. The simpleton was right. He was Their vessel, and they needed him to prevail so They could become free. When They spoke again, Their voice was calmer.

"**_Thou art correct, but still…"_** They said. **_"Thy attitude speaks a lot about one's heart. We cannot merely hand out wishes as We please. We try to see within one's heart, to see if thy art worthy of Our gifts. If thou cannot see this, then We shant possibly grant thy wish even if thou DOES succeed…"_**

"…" the Wanderer fell silent. After a moment, he nodded. "You're right…" he muttered, defeated. "I guess I DO have to smarten up a little…"

If the Dormin had a body, They would nod in approval. **_"Now…thy next foe is…a ruin hidden in the lake…a ripple of thunder lurks underwater…"_**

"…" the Wanderer snorted, looking away. He covered his mouth to try and hide the fact that he was laughing.

"_**What is it?"**_

"Is that supposed to be a joke? 'Ripple of thunder'? Come on, even I didn't think you'd stoop so low as to make fart jokes…"

Dormin growled. **_"Out! Begone with thee!"_** he roared. Smirking, the Wanderer mounted Agro, kicked into his sides, and was off.

-----------------

After running through shady areas, almost running into a lake, and getting lost in a maze near some mountains, the Wanderer finally approached a place where the sun poked through. Up ahead, there were a series of very tall and thin pillars. Raising his sword, the Wanderer led Agro through a long, wide opening that Agro could fit through.

They were soon up on a large stone bridge overlooking a ruin-filled lake. The Wanderer rode Agro along it until he reached a gap in the bridge. Up ahead was a lone pillar with a spiral staircase. Wondering why in the world the old civilization would NEED such artifacts in their time, the Wanderer got off of Agro, petting him before leaping over the gap.

The Wanderer walked down the staircase slowly, hand on the hilt of his sword. He paused just before the stairs led into the water. The Wanderer knelt down, looking at his reflection in the water. He realized that his skin had grown pale, and his hair had a purplish tint to it. Scooping up some water, he tried to wash his hair clean, but the purple remained.

As he washed, he paused, feeling the familiar tingle in the back of his mind.

"**_Swim on the lake's surface to draw out the colossus…"_** Dormin was saying. **_"Hydrus shant show his face until he hath been disturbed"_**

"Huh?" the Wanderer looked up, then around. This was the first time that Dormin had spoken to him before a fight. "What do you mean? There's nothing here."

"**_What thou sees as 'nothing there' is truly Hydrus watching thee."_** Dormin explained. **_"Unless thou poses a threat, Hydrus shant appear before thee…"_**

"Really?" the Wanderer asked, looking out onto the lake. He suddenly got an uneasy feeling, like he was being watched. "That's kinda creepy…"

"**_Get out unto that lake, fool!"_** Dormin ordered. **_"Had We had Our body, We would hath pushed thee into the lake Ourselves…"_**

"All right, all right! I'm going in! Jeez…" the Wanderer said, taking a few steps into the water.

He sprang back instantly.

"Damnit! That's cold!!" the Wanderer complained. He felt Dormin sigh, then felt himself being pushed into the water; Dormin had used what little power they had to push the Wanderer into the lake.

"GAAAH!! COLD! COOOOLD!!" the Wanderer flailed and splashed, trying to get back. As he flailed, the water began to ripple against him. Then, a large wave pushed him away from the spiral pillar.

"Gapgfph!!" the Wanderer coughed, shaking the water from his ears. As he looked up, he stared. Splashing up right in front of him was a giant sea serpent. It was easily over a hundred feet long, with big, blue eyes peering at him. It had three spikes, one on its head, back, and tail. As the Wanderer drew closer, he learned the hard way that these spikes were electrically charged.

As Hydrus swam next to him, he noticed that the sea snake's back was covered in brown fur. Seeing this, the Wanderer floated next to it, waiting. He got shocked a few times, but soon he was rewarded for his patience; Hydrus' giant, hairy tail poked out of the water, right underneath him. The Wanderer grabbed on and held on tight as he was dragged underwater.

The sudden increase in speed startled the Wanderer as he held on for dear life. At first he wondered how he was to move under water, but then he noticed the surface was drawing nearer. When they broke it, then Wanderer coughed, gasping for air. He began to move forward, sword drawn, but had to stop short as Hydrus' back dove back underwater. As soon as they were surfaced again, the Wanderer ran forward yet again, running past the first of the three spikes.

(Author's Note: all right, before anyone throws a hissy fit, I'm just letting you all know: this is how I kill Hydrus. I never bothered with the spikes, simply because I didn't know you had to stab at them. It's actually faster to kill him this way)

It was slow going, but eventually the Wanderer made his way to Hydrus' head. Tired, sore from the shocks, and soaked from head to toe, the Wanderer collapsed heavily next to the shining glyph

"You...big...fish bastard..." the Wanderer panted. He raised his sword wearily, but stabbed into Hydrus' skull forcefully. The sea serpent roared out, and the spike on its head faded.

"Fuck!!" the Wanderer cursed out loud. Had he known, he could have, stabbed at the other spikes and not have so many sores!! He raised his sword and stabbed again, Just as Hydrus' head ducked underwater. Black blood mingled with the water in a messy way, blinding the Wanderer's vision. He shook his head and coughed out blood and water as soon as they resurfaced. Raising his sword, he buried it once again into Hydrus' skull. After some time, it was over.

Hydrus let out one final cry, before its body went limp. It turned over, going belly up before starting to sink. The Wanderer sheathed his sword and swam upward wearily, glad that the fight was over. When he broke the surface, he gratefully inhaled a large quantity of air into his lungs. Coughing out both colossi blood and water, the Wanderer shook his head.

"Ugh...disgusting..." he coughed, then began to slowly swim back to the pillar.

He never made it, for the black tendrils claimed him soon after.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Wh00t! finally updated!! I'm getting really lazy, aren't I? I tried to make this chapter longer, I hope it is. Anyhoo, read and review please!

…you know, that phrase never made sense to me. Read and review? Didn't you already read it? So, it would just be review…I dunno…


	10. Mustard Gas Is NOT A Toy!

Author's Note: Konnichiwa!

Finally on Spring Break! I can catch up on all the sleep I missed!

…what? I have homework to do? FUCK THAT!!

Well, here's chapter 8…no wait…we're on Colossus 8…chapter 10? Ah, I'm confused

By the way, Kuromori's my favorite Colossus :)

Anyhoo, here's the next chapter!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

---------------------------------------------

"Nng…" the Wanderer groaned as he woke up, feeling sore and reeking of lake water and colossus blood. Still a little dazed since his fight with Hydrus, the Wanderer slowly rose to his feet. He immediately fell back down, gripping his head; he had a major headache.

"**_Art thou all right?"_ **Dormin's voice echoed through the Shrine, for once sounding sincerely concerned.

"Ung…no…" the Wanderer growled lowly. "I think getting shocked by a giant electric eel damaged my brain a bit, not to mention I stink. There's no way I can clean these clothes now."

"_**Thou could run around nude if thou would feel better…"**_

"No, I think I can handle the stench…"

"_**Very well. Thy next foe is…a tail trapped within a pail deep within the forest…a shadow that crawls on walls…"**_

"…what?"

"_**A tail trapped within a–"**_

"No, no, not the riddle again," the Wanderer shook his head, "What the hell does that mean? Crawls on walls? Is it some sort of bug?"

"_**Insects art not the only creatures that can climb walls…"**_

"Yea, I know, but what the hell kind of information is that?"

"_**It shalt be enough. Now, begone."**_

-------------

"Wow…pretty…" the Wanderer said, looking around at his surroundings.

His search for the 8th colossus led him into a cave leading into a giant rocky cliff. At first he thought it would be nothing but dark and barren, but he soon found out that it led to a narrow, zigzagging path that wound around a waterfall. Agro walked slowly along the path, but the Wanderer didn't mind; the view was very nice.

Shortly following the waterfall was a wide, hidden lake which stretched out to a sort of structure. He made to dismount, but Agro whinnied, skidding to a halt and jolting him off of him.

"WAAA-" _splash._

The Wanderer resurfaced, coughing out water. He glared at Agro.

"You stupid horse!! You always do this!!" he yelled. Agro simply whinnied and walked off towards some tasty-looking ferns.

'_You've got to be kidding me…'_ the Wanderer thought, before turning and swimming to the structure. _'Fine, I'll leave you to your precious ferns, you fucking horse.'_

Once inside, the Wanderer followed the path, only to find a dead end.

'_What the fuck?'_ he thought to himself, looking around. He found two pillars, each with small ledges around them. _'Oh…'_

After climbing up and around the pillars, the Wanderer jumped down into a pit, ran forward, climbed some stone blocks, and ran ahead.

He found himself in what appeared to be an old arena of sorts. Curious, the Wanderer walked up to the barred window in front of him and looked through it. The base of this arena-like lair spanned down for at least five stories. The walls had seen better days, as they were broken in some places. And resting on the bottom level was a giant black creature.

The colossus took the form of a giant lizard, with ridges along its back, shiny parts around its legs, and a big, fanned-out tail. From the safety of where he was, the Wanderer raised his sword. The beams of light focused on two parts on the colossus' back, but no visible sigils appeared. The Wanderer frowned. Where was he supposed to stab? The colossus' back seemed pretty thick…

Figuring he couldn't do anything on the top level, the Wanderer, noticing some stairs, walked down them. He was now in front of a giant, broken out opening.

"Woa…" he said to himself, looking down at the damage. He could literally see the floors below him. He took a step to far, losing his balance.

"Woa, woa, woa!!!" the Wanderer yelled out and flailed, managing to keep his balance. His commotion, however, caught the colossus' attention. The beast looked up at him, hissing.

"Ha! You can't do anything all the way down there!!" the Wanderer taunted. However, the colossus merely hissed again, walked over to the edge of the pit…

…and started to climb the walls.

"Oh son of a bitch…" the Wanderer moaned. The giant lizard moved _fast,_ and in a matter of moments was next to the Wanderer. It charged up something in its mouth, then shot two shots at the Wanderer.

"FUCK!!" the Wanderer dove out of the way, just barely missing. The shots exploded around him into a thick, yellow cloud. The cloud made it difficult to see for the Wanderer, and when he tried to breathe in, it felt like he was breathing in fire.

Coughing and gasping for air, the Wanderer managed to break free of the cloud of smoke, but only for a moment. The colossus shot another shot at him, but the shot hit the nearby wall. The cloud still exploded next to him. Officially scared for his life, the Wanderer ran to the stairs, hiding out in between levels, out of sight of the colossus.

"**_Find a way to seal its quick movement…"_** Dormin's voice echoed in his mind.

"What the fuck!? There's no way in hell I'm going back out there!!" the Wanderer yelled at his disembodied 'companion.' "He's shooting mustard gas at me! MUSTARD GAS!!"

"_**Thou art not thinking clearly…"**_

"Oh, I'm sorry, but my mind hasn't been that clear since I got the hell shocked out of me, and now am being shot at with mustard gas isn't helping matters much!!"

"**_Silence!!"_** Dormin boomed, making the Wanderer slightly nauseous. **_"Hath thou forgotten thy past battles? Does thou not remember Quadratus? Thou art not thinking properly. Kuromori may seem difficult, but once thou seals its movements, thou can overcome it…"_**

The Wanderer calmed down enough to think back to Quadratus. Quadratus, Quadratus…ah! The giant bull! He remembered that fight. The thing rearing up, him shooting an arrow at its glowing hoof, it going down for him to…

Wait…

Glowing. Arrow. It going down…

"THAT'S IT!!" the Wanderer yelled out enthusiastically. He quickly sheathed his sword and pulled out his bow. Since the level he had been on was covered with mustard gas, the Wanderer ran down to the next level. When he approached the hole, he grinned; Kuromori was still looking at the previous level for him.

The Wanderer notched an arrow, pulled back, then let it fly. The arrow buried itself into Kuromori's leg. Kuromori let out a cry of pain, its leg dislodging from the wall and the glowing parts fading, but it still clung to the wall. The Wanderer let loose another arrow, which buried into the other leg. Unable to hold on with just two legs, Kuromori was dislodged and fell to the ground.

_BOOM!_

The shock of the beast's fall made the Wanderer lose his balance, causing him to fall to the ground below along with Kuromori. "WAAAAAAAAAAAA-OW FUCK!!!" the Wanderer yelled out, landing next to the giant lizard. He then noticed the two bright, shiny sigils on its underbelly.

"Aha!" the Wanderer yelled out, pulling out his sword. He ran up the giant tail to the first sigil, stabbing into it. Kuromori let out a cry of pain, and after a couple more stabs, the first sigil was gone. As the Wanderer ran to the second, Kuromori began to move its legs, much like a lizard, struggling to get up.

"Oh no you don't, I'm killing you right here and now!" the Wanderer yelled, stabbing into the second sigil. Kuromori was starting to get up, when finally the final blow was dealt. Kuromori roared out in pain, then curled back, going limp on its back.

(Author's Note: Yes, you CAN kill both sigils in one go. It's another Speed Run thing. As a matter of fact, I can kill him really fast. My personal record is about 50.2 seconds, when they give you 8 minutes to kill him, though the fastest I've seen is 49 seconds.)

"WH000!!!" the Wanderer yelled out, jumping up and down on Kuromori's dead body, celebrating. "Yea! I win, you lose! Me 8, you colossi ZERO! WH00-UNGH!!" he was cut short as the tendrils buried themselves into his chest.

---------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Yay, another chapter done!!

Maybe I should do that homework that was assigned…

Ah well! Please review people!


	11. Turtles? Nah, Can't Be Harmful, Right?

Author's Note: Konnichiwa!!

Okay, first and foremost, I'm sorry for the late reply. It was Easter, so some things sprang up and I wasn't able to write.

Then, the site wouldn't upload any of my chapters for any of my stories.

Then I accidentally saved over this chapter with another one, so I had to re-write this chapter.

Once again, I'm sorry!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

---------------------------------------------

_All was still in the Shrine of Worship. Sunlight poured in from the entrance openings, beaming down onto the stone altar where a young maiden's body lay. Slowly, the maiden, Mono, stirred and sat up. She looked around, then straight down. Down at him. She held his gaze for a while, then seemed to motion to him. As he made to step forward, the image faded. He was being pulled back, to the back of the Shrine, against his will. He struggled, but to no avail…_

"Ah!" the Wanderer jolted awake, blinking a bit. His breathing came in ragged gasps which caused him to wince; his fight with Kuromori was still fresh in his mind. Slowly, he began to get up, wincing in pain. He was still sore from the fall from the third-story level of the 'pail,' and when he breathed in too deeply, his lungs stung.

Once he was upright, the Wanderer walked over to the altar, sheathing his sword. He looked down at Mono, all peaceful-looking. He felt a pang of sorrow in his chestal section as he looked down at her. He remembered how she was sacrificed, committing no other crime but her cursed fate. Gently, he reached over and caressed the side of her face.

"**_So…thou hath a compassionate side to thee as well…"_** Dormin said, for once not booming proudly like They normally did.

"Yea, so what?" the Wanderer asked, turning to look up at the hole of light. "I'm doing this for her anyway."

"…_**that is one thing We cannot understand…"**_

"Huh?"

"**_Thy human emotion known as 'Love',"_** Dormin explained. **_"We art unsure as to why thou humans behave the way thou art whilst influenced by this 'love'…"_**

"Really?" the Wanderer asked. "Well, it's kinda hard to explain…"

"…**_in any case, We do not care."_** Dormin said simply.

"No shit about that…" the Wanderer muttered to himself.

"**_Thy next foe is…"_** Dormin continued, ignoring the Wanderer, **_"The land where trees nary grow…it sleeps in a dry lake bed…a rude awakening…"_**

"…the fuck?! That doesn't make any sense!!" the Wanderer protested.

"_**Thou shalt see. Now, begone"**_

"Psh…"

------------

The Wanderer, atop Agro, was soon in what appeared to be a barren wasteland on the edge of a large cliff, riddled with small holes which the Wanderer discovered were geysers. There was apparently no grass, and the only trees that grew, if any, were thin and spindly.

There was a narrow canyon around it, which the Wanderer crossed via a thin piece of land that served as a bridge. Thick, grey clouds covered the area, making his sword useless for telling him which way to go.

"Damnit…where do I go?" the Wanderer asked aloud. "I can't use my sword…but this looks like the place…I hope it just comes out so I kno–AAGH!!"

A geyser next to them suddenly shot up a large, forceful pillar of water. Agro, unaware, reared up, whinnying in fear. His rearing up caused the Wanderer to fall off.

"Oww…damnit you stupid horse!!" the Wanderer yelled out. "Agh…I don't need this…I'm so sore…" he complained as he slowly stood up.

_Rmblrrmblermblermblermble_

"Eh?" the Wanderer looked up, feeling and hearing rumbling. There was a large cave in the cliff to one side. Inside, something was stirring.

"Ah shit…"

Slowly, a large, shadowy mass rose up within the cave. All that the Wanderer could see was its faint outline and its large, blue eyes. The Wanderer couldn't tell what it was, but it was huge.

Suddenly, the beast lifted its head, and four yellow orbs of light formed from its chin. The colossi then flinched, and the beams were shot, right for the Wanderer.

"FUCK!!!" the Wanderer yelled, running for his life. The beams just barely missed, but the shocks caused him to fall over. Scrambling up, the Wanderer booked it.

"AGRO!" he yelled out, looking for his horse. Suddenly, more shots were fired at the Wanderer. Luckily, they missed completely.

"AGRO, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU BLOODY HORSE?!" the Wanderer yelled out again. After a few steps from the colossus (which sounded more like stomps), more shots were fired.

"AGH!" they hit dead on. The Wanderer went flying, rolling on the ground a bit before getting up. He was surprised he could still stand.

'_I guess he doesn't want me to call Agro…'_ the Wanderer thought.

(Author's Note: this is what I noticed about Basaran; whenever I tried to call Agro, he would shoot me. When I didn't, he wouldn't. Anyone else have that issue?)

The Wanderer looked back once he ran past a geyser. He stared in amazement as a giant turtle, the size of a small cliff, lumbered out of the cave, almost lazily. The beast looked tough. Not a single part of what the Wanderer could see was fleshy or hairy. Its shell was jagged and spiked like a small mountain range, and its head was roughly square.

Suddenly, Agro started to run past. Blinking and shaking his head, the Wanderer ran after Agro.

"Agro!" the Wanderer yelled out again. The horse whinnied and stopped, allowing him to climb on the beast's back. Kicking into Agro's sides, the two of them began to run away from the giant turtle.

"**_The power of the earth shall shake even a colossus…"_** Dormin's voice spoke to the Wanderer. **_"Basaran shall only be a problem if thou does not expose it…"_**

"WHAT?!" the Wanderer yelled at Dormin, which surprised Agro enough so skid to a stop, but surprisingly didn't knock of the Wanderer. "What's that supposed to mean!? How am I gonna…huh!?" the Wanderer stared as he looked back at Basaran.

A geyser underneath it suddenly burst up, spraying at the creature's underbelly. The force of the water made the giant turtle lose its balance, flailing one side of it up in the air. Only two of its legs were supporting it, both of which looked shaky.

"**_Aim for the legs that support the body of the floating colossus…"_** Dormin said.

"…Now why couldn't you have told me that sooner!?" the Wanderer yelled at Dormin, kicking into Agro's sides. The two of them raced over to Basaran, skidding to a halt just underneath the 'floating colossus.' The Wanderer could see that, underneath the mass of stone, there were sections of glowing flesh.

Just like Quadratus and Kuromori.

The Wanderer whipped out his bow, taking aim. The first arrow buried itself into Basaran's leg. The turtle roared out in pain, the leg tipping over and slipping. Soon, only one leg remained, which the Wanderer shot out. The leg slipped, Basaran flailed, and soon the colossus began to fall. One of Basaran's suspended legs came dangerously close to hitting Agro. The horse, in fear, reared up and began running; _right for where the colossus' shell was going to land._

"WHAT THE?! HEEY! DON'T RUN THAT WAY!!" the Wanderer yelled out, but it was too late; they were already halfway underneath the colossus. The Wanderer lay flat against Agro, narrowly being pierced by one of its shell spikes. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact…

_BOOOOOOOOOOM!!_

"…???" the Wanderer opened his eyes and looked around. They were okay?! He turned back, seeing Basaran's shell; the colossi was on the ground, flailing. The Wanderer let out a few nervous laughs. How the hell did he survive that?! Basaran still had momentum, and flipped again, revealing its surprisingly hairy underbelly.

(Author's Note: All right. This one ISN'T a Speed Run tactic. Actually, it's a stunt. It's really cool, I managed to pull it off a few times. I didn't find it out, I found it out from a video on Youtube called 'EXTREME colossi stunts!' by TopDollar (who is a colossi-stunt-killing MANIAC). Check it out, it's pretty cool)

"AHA!" the Wanderer yelled out, making Agro turn around. The horse ran at Basaran, and when he was close, the Wanderer leapt off and grabbed onto the fur, drawing his sword. Seeing no sigil, the Wanderer began to climb.

And climb.

And climb.

"God DAMN, you're fat!!" the Wanderer yelled as he FINALLY grabbed onto the edge of Basaran's shell. Just as he jumped up and on, Basaran began to right itself, flipping over roughly. It almost flung the Wanderer off, but he held on. When the turtle righted itself, the Wanderer ran up, assuming the sigil was on its head.

He was right.

Basaran, realizing something was on its back, started to buck its back. The Wanderer began to get tossed around, having nothing to grab onto, but surprisingly didn't fall off. When Basaran grew tired, the Wanderer ran to its head, which had a small patch of fur, with a bright sigil shining as he neared.

"Hi-ya!" the Wanderer cried out, leaping from where he was. When he landed on Basaran's head, he buried his sword into its skull. Basaran roared out, shaking its head violently. When the wanderer yanked his sword from its head, he raised it and buried it again. Basaran roared again, thrashing its head again.

DAMN, this one was a thrasher!

"STOP THRASHING!!" the Wanderer roared, burying his sword into its skull again. The beast roared and thrashed again. Soon, the Wanderer stabbed one final time. Basaran tossed its head up, before falling flat on the ground.

"Oof…" the Wanderer said, standing up. The black tendrils exploded from Basaran's skull, shocking the Wanderer. "WOA!" he yelled, falling back. He watched them a bit, before they buried themselves into his chest.

---------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Okay. Chapter's done. Sorry for the delay.

Also, Goren: Yes. They ARE the colossi's real name, but they were never told in the hints. I had to go onto to look up the Game Script to see what they were, as well as the hints.

So once again, I'm sorry! Please review, and forgive me!


	12. Sub: A Beach, A Tree, And Loki The Hawk

Author's Note: howdy!!

All right! Let's step away from the main story for a while and start up a good ol' fashioned Sub-Chapter!!

…

Yea…All right, let's get this started, ne?

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

---------------------------------

"Oww…" the Wanderer groaned as he slowly awoke, sitting up on his knees. He shook his head lightly, flecks of dirt falling out. "Man…That last one was a doozy…"

"_**That trick thou hath performed was daring indeed…"**_ Dormin congratulated the Wanderer.

"Ugh…what trick?" the Wanderer asked. Then, he remembered; Agro running, him ducking…BOOM!

"That wasn't a trick!" he protested. "That was a fluke by my idiot horse!!"

"_**Still, it provided Us with entertainment…"**_ Dormin mused, chuckling to Themselves.

The Wanderer growled. "Just give me my bloody directions already." He grumbled.

"_**Hmm…thy next foe is…an isolated sand dune…its tracks art well hidden…shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee…"**_ Dormin instructed.

"All right, I'm o–"

"_**Wait."**_

"Huh?"

"…_**Taketh the South way…enjoy the view…take thy time…"**_ Dormin instructed further, before Their voice faded.

"…Huh??" the Wanderer stared, dumbfounded. Was the disembodied bastard giving him time off??

In any case, the Wanderer called for Agro, who was already at the entrance to the Shrine. Climbing onto him, the Wanderer rode out, taking Dormin's advice and heading slightly south.

-----

"Wooooow…" the Wanderer looked down at the beach they were passing by. After passing by the area near Barba's old lair (a bit more north), they were passing over a land bridge of sorts. Below them was a spanning beach, cleverly hidden in a cove of a canyon, overlooking the sea.

"We have to go down there…" the Wanderer mused, looking around. Eyeing a cliff-side path, he led Agro down it. Soon, they were standing on the white sands of the beach.

The Wanderer got off, looking around. The wind blew by, yet it was oddly warm in the cove. The waves rolled in gently from the sea, and when the Wanderer poked his toes in it, he found it not too cold, yet not too warm either; perfect temperature. Grinning, the Wanderer stripped down and took a swim.

After his swim, the Wanderer re-dressed himself, climbed onto Agro, and decided to leave the beach. When they were back up at the top of the cliff, the Wanderer looked back at the beach for a bit before riding off.

-----

"That is a big tree…" the Wanderer said, looking up on top of some cliffs he and Agro were passing. The tree was _huge_, rather than the small fruit-bearing trees he had come across. Also, this tree was dead.

"That thing is creepy!" the Wanderer yelled out. Leading Agro to a relatively flat plane, he got off and craned his neck up to see the tree. It must have been impressive when it was alive…

Suddenly, a giant hawk flew out from the dead tree. "Holy crap!!" the Wanderer yelled out, watching it fly. "Wait…aren't hawks smaller than that??"

The Wanderer watched the giant hawk fly around a bit. "Hmm…" he suddenly got a cruel idea. Raising his sword, he refracted the light from it towards the hawk. It tried to avoid the beams, but the Wanderer wouldn't let up.

"Hahahaha! …I am so mean" the Wanderer told himself, just as the hawk swooped down.

Grabbing his sword along the way.

"…wait, what?!" it took the Wanderer a little time to figure out what just happened, but when he did…

"HEY! GIVE ME BACK MY SWORD YOU BASTARD HAWK!!"

Immediately, he drew his bow and aimed it at the bird.

_Whsssssh!_

Complete miss.

"DAMNIT!"

_Whsssssh!_

_Whsssssh!_

_Whsssssh!_

All misses.

"Oh, come on!!!" the Wanderer yelled out. As the bird began to fly away, the Wanderer was forced to scramble onto Agro in order to catch up.

_Whsssssh!_

_Whsssssh!_

---------------------

"Damnit…" the Wanderer growled, sitting on a rock next to the cliff that bore the giant tree. He had been unsuccessful in retrieving his sword from that damned hawk. Dormin was going to _kill_ him!!

"_**So, art thou enjoying thyself?"**_

Speak of the devil.

"No!" the Wanderer growled. "I got my sword stolen by a fucking hawk!!"

"_**Oh? Doth thou mean Loki?"**_ Dormin asked.

"Loki?"

"_**Aye, Loki, thou mischievous bird…"**_ Dormin mused to Themselves. _**"Be patient, and I will aid thee…"**_ Just then, the hawk flew by, right next to the Wanderer, and dropped the sword.

"…Wha!? How did you…!?" the Wanderer stared in amazement.

"_**We art the rulers of this land"**_ Dormin answered simply. _**"Thou hath wasted enough time. Go. Thy next foe awaits…"**_

---------------------------------

Author's Note: well, we're done for now!!

Also, the beach, the dead tree, and the hawk are all real. They're found south of Dirge's lair (the sand snake thing). As for Loki's name…it's a fan name.

Well, please review! Dirge is up next! Second favorite colossus!


	13. What REALLY Lives In Your Sand Box

Author's Note: howdy!!

Okay, I know I haven't been updating recently…I just bought Twilight Princess for my Wii :3

I don't think anyone's reading anymore…

AH WELL!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

---------------------------------

"Eerie…" was all the Wanderer could say to describe the cavern. After their little 'vacation,' the two of them decided to get on with their task. The walls around them allowed little light in, and Agro kept stumbling on the soft sand beneath them. They had to continue along at a slow walk through the darkness.

'KEE! KEE!!'

Agro whinnied in surprise, for their walking had disturbed a sleeping pack of bats. He reared up, knocking the Wanderer off.

"OWW!!" he cried out, his voice echoing loudly. Slowly, he got up, walking over to Agro. "Fucking horse…"

Once re-mounted, the Wanderer led Agro into the heart of the cavern. It was much brighter in here, largely due to the hole in the ceiling through which light from outside shone. The cave was littered with stalagmites, pillars of stone, and sand. Lots and lots of sand.

"…huh" the Wanderer said, getting off Agro and looking around. "Where is it? There's not many places for it to hide. Did I ge–"

_Rmblermblermblermblermble_

The cave shook violently. Below them, the sand began to shift, and a faint hiss could be heard.

"Ah shit…"

_SHOOOM!!_

Suddenly, the ground below seemingly exploded, and bursting through the sand was what appeared to be a large, hairy sand worm. It roared out, diving and surfacing as if it were swimming, thrashing through the waves of sand. Then, it turned…

…_headed right for them._

"FUCK!!" the Wanderer yelled out, and booked it. Agro whinnied, running off in another direction. The sand worm hissed, then turned for the Wanderer.

"Aw, ya couldn't go after the horse, could ya!?" the Wanderer yelled out. The sand worm roared and dove right next to him. The force was so strong it sent him flying.

"OW FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!!" he yelled out. The sand worm dove again, thrashed a bit, then made to turn for him again.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiiiiiiit!!" the Wanderer moaned, getting up and running.

"_**Thy legs cannot possibly carry thee away from Dirge's dangers…"**_ Dormin's voice spoke to him in his mind, almost amused.

"GEE, THANKS!" the Wanderer yelled sarcastically. "AGRO, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

The horse in question whinnied at his name, running towards the Wanderer. He leapt onto Agro as he ran by, scrambling onto his back. The Wanderer figured out that riding on Agro was a LOT safer.

'_Okay, how to kill this guy…'_ he thought, looking back at Dirge. After a bit of contemplating, he just decided to jump on it like normal. He curved Agro out of Dirge's path, over to its hairy back. He jumped, landing on the sand worm's back.

His only accomplishment of this was being half-buried and getting a mouth-full of sand.

"AKBPTH!!" the Wanderer slowly rose, coughing and shaking sand from his hair. "Okay, that didn't work…" he said, scrambling to Agro's back just as Dirge began another 'temper tantrum' throughout the cavern.

"Hmm…" the Wanderer eyed the nearby rocks. _'Maybe crash him into a wall?'_ that sounded good.

"Oy! Sand bastard!!" he yelled out, though it wasn't necessary; Dirge was already after them. The Wanderer _tried_ leading it to the wall, but as soon as they got close to one…

_RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!!_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

Agro quickly veered to the right, narrowly dodging the kamikaze attack from Dirge. The Wanderer yelled out, annoyed.

"OKAY, THIS IS BULLSHIT!!" he yelled out. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM WHE…" he trailed off, looking as Dirge charged after them. "FUCK!! JUST GO AWAY!!" he yelled, pulling out his bow and shooting at Dirge hopelessly.

That is, until one so happened to strike Dirge in the eye.

The sand worm let out a…squeal?...of pain, going into a blind barrel-roll.

"Oh fuck!!" the Wanderer yelled, veering Agro to one side.

_BOOOOOOOOM!!_

The Wanderer looked behind him, surprised. Dirge had smashed into the wall, arched up and writhing in pain. On its back, a large, shiny sigil became visible.

"AHA!!" he yelled out, kicking into Agro's sides. He rode over, jumping onto Dirge's back when near. Approaching the sigil, the Wanderer drew his sword, raised it, and buried it deep within the sand worm's spine.

Dirge squealed again, writing more and more with each stab. Finally, the sigil was gone, but Dirge still stood. He squealed again, burrowing into the ground.

"BLGEBPTHTHF!!" the Wanderer yelled, getting a face-full of sand yet again. Coughing, he ran over to Agro, climbing back on.

If colossi could show emotion, Dirge was a prime example; it was pissed. It stormed around the cavern, sending sand flying everywhere as it passed. The Wanderer followed after it, and soon enough, Dirge caught on yet again. As the Wanderer readied his bow, he could see that the sand worm's eye was slowly seeping out dark blood.

Taking careful aim, the Wanderer readied his bow…

At that moment, Agro stumbled, nearly falling over as a large rock underneath his hooves failed to hold his weight. The sudden stumble threw the Wanderer off.

"WAAAAH!!" the Wanderer fell to the side, crashing into the sand. Dirge, seeing that the Wanderer had been dislodged, turned, doubling back around the way it came before charging right at the Wanderer.

"Shit, shit, shit…" the Wanderer muttered to himself, drawing his bow back and firing a few times. Each time was a miss. "DAMNIT!!" he yelled out, firing one last one. Miraculously, it hit. Squealing, Dirge went into another barrel-roll, crashing into a nearby stalagmite.

Grinning triumphantly, the Wanderer re-drew his sword, running to Dirge's exposed back. He half climbed, half ran up the sand worm until he found the second sigil. He raised his sword, burying it into Dirge's spine.

After a few stabs, it was all over. Dirge gave one final squeal, writhed, went rigid, then fell to the sand, going limp. The Wanderer stood up, shaking more sand from his hair.

"Holy shit…" he said, shaking his head, before…

"HNGGG!" he had forgotten about the black tendrils, which had buried themselves into his chest.

---------------------------------

Author's Note: I think this is one of my longest chapters…I might be wrong, though…

I wanted it to be long, since I haven't updated in a while.

Anyhoo, please review, if people are still reading this story!


	14. The Day Bacon Struck Back

Author's Note: Howdy.

All right…I KNOW it's been a while since I updated…But now, after a month of cramming, 3 final exams, two months of writer's block, writing a rough draft and forgetting where I put it, leaving copies at school, playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, training for upcoming Super Smash Bros: Melee and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja contests, and just plain laziness…it's finally here.

Flames about me not updating regularly will be allowed.

Also, I must send out a thank you to -Zabuza's girl08- who drew a picture of the Wanderer and Dormin's first encounter, as well as the Wanderer first seeing Valus. I've never had anyone draw a picture of a scene from one of my fanfics, so I'm quite honored and feel it must be mentioned. You can find the work on Deviantart, and her username is SensuiGirl

Well, without further ado, here's the new chapter!

Finally!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

-------------------------------------------------------

_He was riding Agro across a barren wasteland spanning underneath the stone spires of the Bridge, locating the next colossus. The sun beat down heavily upon them as they rode, providing an uncomfortable warmth onto his back. As they crossed underneath the Bridge, the sand beneath them suddenly opened up, swallowing them. Unaware, they plunged into the abyss, Agro whinnying in fear and him shouting in shock. They fell, falling, falling, until…_

"Ah!" the Wanderer jerked awake, gasping for breath and covered in a cold sweat. It took him a little while to realize that he was in the Shrine of Worship. He let out a great sigh of relief, slowly rising to his feet.

(A/N: Okay, this is in…well, you could say tribute for a popular glitch in locating this particular colossus. I myself never experienced this glitch, but I HAVE seen it on Youtube)

"_**So, thou art awake from thy slumber…"**_ Dormin mused, a hint of amusement in Their voice.

"Yeah, and?" the Wanderer asked.

"…_**Thou talks in thy sleep"**_

"SHATAP!!"

Dormin chuckled to Themselves. _**"And snores…"**_

"I do NOT snore!!" the Wanderer snapped, getting nothing but laughter as a reply. He sighed. "Just get on with it!"

"_**Thy next foe is…"**_ Dormin began, _**"A being which snores and talks in its sleep…"**_

The Wanderer yelled out, shooting an arrow at the hole in the ceiling.

Dormin chuckled, then continued. _**"An alter overlooks the lake... A guardian set loose... It keeps the flames alive…"**_

"Eh? Flames?" the Wanderer asked. "Is it some kind of dragon?"

"_**Nay. Celosia is not a dragon"**_ Dormin said.

"But what other kind of thing keeps fire–"

"_**Celosia is not a dragon! Now begone with thee already!!"**_ Dormin ordered; They had had enough of their vessel's complaining.

-----------

"Where the hell IS this thing?!" the Wanderer asked aloud.

He and Agro had been circling around the sandy wastelands that resided north of the Temple, spanning underneath the Bridge. They had been searching for well over an hour, trying to find this damned colossus, but to no avail. (A/N: Anyone else have problems locating this one, or was it just me?)

The Wanderer led Agro to a nearby oasis, letting the horse have a drink, as did he, also washing his face in the cool water. They were tired, and the sun beating down on them wasn't helping much.

As they took a small break, the Wanderer noticed something; this was the exact same spot where his dream occurred. He looked by one of the stone spires and noticed the same spot where the land opened up underneath him and swallowed Agro and himself. His gut gave a sudden lurch of fear, and he took an uneasy gulp.

Slowly, he got up and walked over to the spot. As he neared, his steps slowed, and he walked closer to the spire. He stopped and kneeled down. So far, the ground was solid.

Cautiously drawing his sword, the Wanderer poked at the ground just ahead of him. The ground withheld.

The Wanderer let out a sigh. Slowly standing up, he confidently walked over the sand. Nothing happened.

"Agro!" he called out, and after a moment, his horse skidded to a halt next to him. Still nothing. Grinning to himself, the Wanderer mounted Agro, and then the two were off again.

"Now, where the hell is this guy…" The Wanderer mused to himself, looking around. "I swear, we passed this place a while ag-AAAAH!!"

Agro whinnied, rearing up as they appeared at the mouth of a wide chasm. The Wanderer, unaware, was sent careening over Agro's head and now dangled just over the edge of the chasm.

Had his arm not gotten tangles in Agro's reigns, he would have been sent flying down to his death.

"Holy shit that was close…" the Wanderer said, letting out a sigh of relief. He looked up at his horse. "Agro! Back up!" he yelled.

Agro, wanting to be freed from the extra weight dangling from his head, shook off the reigns.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

_SPLASH!!!!_

Lucky for the Wanderer, there was a small pool of water just at the bottom of the chasm. He surfaced, coughing unexpected water from his lungs and headed over to the shore.

Agro, free of his reigns, trotted off towards the oasis.

"Fucking horse…" the Wanderer growled, twitching and wringing water from his tunic. He drew his sword, pouring water from the sheath. As he did this, the Wanderer noticed light bounce off the sword, pointing towards an old, temple-looking structure.

Go figure.

As he walked over to the temple, the Wanderer noticed a ramp-like ledge leading up and into it. He climbed it, following the path into the darkness of the temple. He followed it silently, all the while thinking to himself _'Who in their right mind would build a temple HERE!?'_

He soon found himself in a square, dimly-lit room, with an opening on the far side overlooking the chasm. There were four grooves in the wall, which housed four podiums, each with a fire lit at the top.

The Wanderer took a step forward. As soon as he did, a low growl rang out through the room.

At first, the Wanderer expected the torches to start moving or something, but then heard movement above him. He looked up, and as he did, he saw something leap off from an upper ledge. It ran a bit ahead of him, skidded to a halt, then turned around, shaking itself off.

It wasn't a dragon. It was…

"…a pig!?" the Wanderer asked aloud.

(A/N: All right, before anyone attacks me for this, I have to say; to me, Celosia looks like a pig. A pig with claws. And enough ramming power to knock over a small house)

He didn't have time to make up a smart-assed comment, either; right as he said that, the 'pig' suddenly booked it, running right for him.

"…Meep"

The Wanderer yelled out, diving to the side just as Celosia barreled past him, trying to ram him with its tusks. The Wanderer scrambled up, running for one of the pedestals of fire. The colossus was right on his tail, and as he dove for cover behind the pedestal, Celosia rammed its head into the wall, unable to fit in the small space.

The Wanderer turned, looking at the beast. This thing was the polar opposite of all the other colossi! It wasn't bit and slow, it was small and fast!

Celosia circled the pedestal, waiting for the Wanderer to emerge, but after a while, began to walk away. The Wanderer took a few steps forward, but soon realized that that was a big mistake; as soon as he stepped out, Celosia's claws raked out across his chest.

"AAGH!" he yelled out, falling behind the pedestal. He looked down, seeing blood. The Wanderer had been scared in the past, but this was different; this thing could actually _kill_ him!

"_**Celosia fears the flames…"**_ Dormin's voice echoed into the Wanderer's mind.

"Yeah, you mentioned that before, but that doesn't help me!!" the Wanderer yelled, standing up while using the wall as a support. "This thing'll KILL me if I go out there!!"

Celosia, having grown bored of the Wanderer, was now curled up on the floor, half watching him, half falling asleep.

"_**Calm thyself, and think."**_ Dormin said sternly. _**"Perhaps thou can use the flame pedestal…"**_

"…eh?" the Wanderer looked up at the pedestal. He noticed a few grooves in its sides, just enough for him to climb. "Hmm…"

He leapt up, grabbing onto one of the grooves. Slowly, he climbed up the pedestal. Celosia raised its head, now watching more intently.

When the Wanderer reached the top, he looked around. "Now what?" he asked, unsure of what to do.

_WHAM!!_

The pedestal was suddenly hit with a tremendous force as Celosia rammed its head into it.

"AAAH!" the Wanderer lost his balance, flailed, and fell to the ground. "Oof!" he landed hard on the stone floor. He heard Celosia growl, and curled up into the fetal position, awaiting the final blow…

…it never came.

"…huh?" the Wanderer looked up, seeing the giant pig slowly backing up, suddenly afraid. He looked to his side, seeing a stick that was ignited on one end.

A cruel grin appeared on the Wanderer's face. He scrambled to the stick, picking it up and flailing it at Celosia. "HA! Take that!!" he yelled.

As he did, the stick burnt out.

"…crap"

Celosia charged, and the Wanderer yelled, diving behind the pedestal again.

After climbing back up to the top of the pedestal and re-igniting the stick, the Wanderer leapt down, and once again Celosia was struck with fear.

"Heh heh heh…" the Wanderer laughed. "Not so tough now, are ya, Mr. 'Oh-lookit-me-I'm-so-fast-and-scary-but-I'm-scared-of-a-little-flame'!" he mocked, swinging the stick. Celosia let out a feeble growl, swiping at the Wanderer in fear. The Wanderer was having so much fun he didn't even realize they were walking to the giant opening in the wall.

Neither did Celosia.

The beast suddenly lost its footing and slipped. It tried to dig its claws into the ground, but couldn't get a good hold. The beast slipped, falling down the cliff-side, smashing its back into the path below with a loud _crunch_. The force flipped it over, and it fell on its front.

"Wow…" the Wanderer said, looking down. He then noticed that Celosia's armor covering it had cracked, and now revealed its very hairy back. And shining brightly on its back was a nice big sigil.

Grinning, the Wanderer dropped the stick and drew his sword. He dropped down to the first path, just above Celosia's position. When the beast didn't move, he leapt off from the ledge, sword pointing down.

"Hi-YAH!" he yelled, driving his sword into Celosia's back with the force of his fall. Celosia roared out, scrambled to its feet, and started running.

"Whoa!!" the Wanderer yelled, hanging on for dear life as the beast ran around the chasm. It paused, trying to shake the Wanderer off, then took off again, nearly accomplishing its goal.

"Somebody stop this crazy thing!!" the Wanderer yelled out. He readied his sword, and as Celosia stopped, he raised it and stabbed it into the beast's back again.

Celosia let out a final yell, then fell to its side, dead. It knocked the Wanderer off as it fell.

"Oww…" the Wanderer said as he got up. He watched as the black tendrils escaped from the beast's back, surprised that it only took two stabs to kill it. He sheathed his sword and waited as the black tendrils swirled around in midair, then buried themselves into his chest.

-------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: There. It's finally done. I'm on summer break, so I'll try to update more often.

And this time, I mean it.

Promise.

Please review!!


	15. Hey! Look! It's A Thing!

A/N: Hmmm…

You know, it's been roughly 9 months, maybe more, since I last played this game…and just the other day, I played it…MAN have I gotten bad x.X took me longer than normal to kill Valus. VALUS!

Well, I believe it's time to update, no?

Next up: Pelagia.

My friend and I sometimes refer to this guy as Pandora. Why, you may ask? Because this guy was a BITCH. He took me the longest to find out how to kill, the longest to beat on both Speed Runs, and countless times made me wonder; why the HELL did they add this guy?!

Also…He looks weird…he has no eyes!!

Also, I've been PMed by a certain individual (I won't divulge who, they wish to remain anonymous) who asked me if there was any planning involved in these chapters. As in, do I, quote unquote, 'sit down and plan this on paper or just make them up as you go?' Well, for your information, this is ALL IMPROVISATION! That's right, no planning, no script; I HAVE tried to write them down in a rough draft, but they don't turn out as good, in my opinion. So I just make it up as I go, adding in whatever I felt while fighting these colossal pains in the ass, as well as what I think is funny (and so far, you all agree with me). Basically, you're reading the planning, the rough draft, and the final draft, all in one compact little chapter! Convenient :3

…That was my longest A/N to date o.O

Anyhoo, now for the new chapter!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

---------------------------------------

"Nnng…" the Wanderer groaned as he awoke. He slowly stood, wincing at the pain the claw marks Celosia gave him. He looked down at the large rips in his tunic, revealing three or four long, thick scars, a couple of which were still bleeding.

"_**My, what nasty battle wounds thou hath acquired…"**_ Dormin's voice boomed into the temple, the slightest hint of concern in Their voice.

"Shut up." the Wanderer growled, hissing in pain. "These are still fresh, let me –"

"_**Woulds thou like to take a small break?"**_ Dormin asked.

"Eh??" the Wanderer gave a start; since when did Dormin ever give a rat's ass about his personal well-being? "Well, uh…sure, I guess."

"_**Very well. Take as long as thy need, but dawdle not…"**_

------

The Wanderer spent the next few days nursing his scars Celosia gave him, as well as any other cuts and bruises. Since he lacked proper medical supplies, he merely kept to cleaning the wounds with the water in the small pool at the base of the spiral staircase to keep the wounds from infecting. The last thing he needed was some weird disease sprouting from his chest and killing him before the Colossi killed him.

Because if it's not something a hundred times bigger than you that'll kill you, it's something a hundred times smaller than you.

Once more or less healed (the Wanderer now sported a set of scabbed-over scars), the Wanderer looked up at the giant hole in the ceiling, squinting as the light blinded him a bit.

"_**So, art thou properly healed?"**_ Dormin asked the Wanderer. They had to make sure their vassal remained intact.

"Yeah, more or less…" the Wanderer said. "I'm surprised you even LET me heal."

"_**We cannot allow thee to die just yet…"**_ Dormin said, mostly to Themselves.

"Eh?"

Dormin made a noise like They were clearing Their throat, signalizing the change of subject. _**"Thy next foe is… Paradise floats upon the lake… A silent being wields thunder…. A moving bridge to cross to higher ground…"**_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…_**is there a problem?"**_

"What the HELL does that mean!?" the Wanderer exclaimed. "That one makes the least amount of sense than all of them!"

"_**Thou shalt see in due time"**_ Dormin reassured. _**"Now, be off with thee."**_

------

After running across the barren wastelands north of the temple again, the Wanderer was surprised to find that his journey had led him along the cliffside of a nearby waterfall. As he rode along it, he came to a dead end and was forced to leave Agro behind.

Not that he didn't want to leave Agro behind. In fact, he was quite glad that he was separated from his horse. That brute of an animal always found a way to almost kill him, and he was still upset about what happened at Celosia's canyon.

The Wanderer shimmied around a cylindrical pillar, making sure not to fall off; the current near the waterfall was VERY strong. Once on the other side, the Wanderer dropped down, following the path until it ended.

"…ah crap, more water…" the Wanderer groaned. Leaping into the water, he swam forward, through a giant stone gate. He silently hoped that this wasn't another repeat of Hydrus…

As the Wanderer swam, he noticed that there were three stone gazebos floating in the lake, as well as a stone platform. Curious as to how stone could be floating, the Wanderer swam forward to the platform, clambering onto it. He looked around the lake, not seeing anything.

"Where is it?" he asked aloud, looking around. He didn't see, or hear, the colossus anywhere.

As he was looking, the Wanderer felt something cool and wet pass over his ankles. He looked down in time to see water gushing over his feet, over the platform.

_Splash!!_

The Wanderer whirled around, seeing a gargantuan beast rise out of the water. He was hit with both shock and confusion, since the creature looked NOTHING like…well…ANYTHING. He first mistook it for a frog, (A/N: Oy, I think Pelagia looks like a frog, with horns . ;;) but upon closer inspection, it looked like a…a…well, um…a thing! As the Wanderer contemplated, the horns on the…thing turned from blue to yellow, and it fired a blast of electricity at him.

"Aagh!" the Wanderer dove into the water, but not before getting singed a little. He inwardly cursed himself; not ANOTHER laser-shooting bastard!

The Wanderer swam around the giant 'frog', keeping underwater as much as possible so that he wasn't hit by any lasers. He finally swam around to the thing's back, and when he did, he grabbed a hold of its mossy backside and began to climb.

After a mild thrashing, the Wanderer rushed up to the creature's head, raised his sword, and stabbed.

Aside from a roar of discomfort, nothing happened.

(A/N: -points above- I actually did that my first time fighting him . ;;)

"Eh?" the Wanderer asked aloud, looking down; there was no sigil.

"_**Thou cannot aim for Pelagia's vitals as thou art now…"**_ Dormin's voice trickled into the Wanderer's mind.

"What do you…what am I supposed to do!?" the Wanderer yelled out. Doing so annoyed Pelagia, who began to toss its massive head. The Wanderer cried out, being thrown around a bit. His head collided with one of the massive teeth-things atop of the creature's head.

"OW!" the Wanderer yelled, but as he collided with it, Pelagia ceased its thrashing, pausing. "…eh?" he looked at the teeth-things; there were some at his right, some at his left, and some in front of him. Curious, he raised his sword and struck the teeth-things to his right.

Instantly, Pelagia let out a roar and sharply turned to the right. The Wanderer yelled out, gripping onto the creature's fur. When it stopped moving, the Wanderer looked up; they were just in front of one of the white gazebos.

"…Hmmm" the Wanderer mused to himself, getting an idea. He struck the central teeth-things. Pelagia lurched forward, almost knocking the Wanderer off its head entirely. When they were close enough, the Wanderer leapt from his massive 'steed' onto the gazebo roof. Pelagia, realizing it was freed from the tiny menace, began to fire a shot at the Wanderer, but he had hidden behind the giant circular piece of stone in the center.

After a short pause, Pelagia sank back into the water, then hoisted itself upward, leaning on the gazebo. On its 'chest' was a bright sigil.

"Aha!" the Wanderer yelled out, running out and leaping onto Pelagia. He instantly raised his sword, burying it into the sigil one after another. Pelagia let out a roar of pain at each stab, and began to sink back into the water.

"Oh hell, I ain't going through all that again!!" the Wanderer yelled, stabbing again, and just as his back began to get wet from the water, he delivered one final stab.

(A/N: You CAN kill Pelagia in one go, you know. I've seen it done)

Pelagia let out a cry of pain, falling back as if it had been dealt a heavy physical blow. It fell backwards into the water and started to sink into its depths. The Wanderer quickly sheathed his sword and swam up, taking in a big breath as he broke the surface. He grinned, laughing to himself.

"Bye Bye, Mr. Ugly!" he jeered. "Man, this is getting pretty eas-UGH!" he couldn't finish his sentence, because the tendrils entered into him at that very moment.

---------------------------------------

A/N: …yeah, sorry this one's short. I don't really like Pelagia much, so…

Next up: Crowd favorite, Phalanx! My 3rd favorite colossus!

Please review!


	16. But I Thought Tapeworms Were Small

A/N: Howdy.

Yes, it's been a while, but I've been busy. I could have actually had this up earlier, but I forgot about it…

So yeah, next up, Phalanx.

You know, Phalanx has a REALLY big fanbase…

…well, that's because he's awesome :3

But he doesn't attack! He's harmless!

Well, actually…when I first fought him, he burrowed into the sand, and…took me with him…and killed me…

SO YOU CAN DIE FROM THIS NON-ATTACKER!

Also, I'm adding a little extra dialogue to Emon, because I can :3

Anyhoo, yeah, next chapter.

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

----------------------------------

A small group of riders made their way through the lush forest, riding at dangerous speeds. The group moved with much gusto, pausing only when the horses could run no more without rest. Such a pause came, as the group stopped once outside the forest. A masked man astride a snow white steed looked over into the distance; just barely, the slight outline of the peak of the shrine of Worship could be seen.

"Only a little more to go…" the masked one said, more so to himself than the group he traveled with. "Never had something like this happened before…it must have been that fool…"

-----

"ACHOOPH" the Wanderer sneezed loudly, the force of the sneeze causing him to hunch over a bit.

"_**Bless thee…"**_ Dormin said. _**"We hope that thou art not catching a cold…"**_

"Nah…" the Wanderer said, sniffing and straightening. "I think someone's talking about me…"

Dormin chuckled. _**"Human superstition hath always amused Us…"**_ They mused.

The Wanderer frowned. "What? I've been told that if you sneeze for no reason, someone's talking about you!" he retorted.

"_**And who woulds talk about a lonely wanderer such as thee?"**_ Dormin ventured.

The Wanderer shrugged. "I dunno. Anyone?"

"_**Banish such thoughts from thy mind."**_ Dormin instructed. _**"None are speaking of thee. Now, Thy next foe is…The vast desert lands…a giant trail drifts across the sky…thou art not alone…"**_

"…Eh?" the Wanderer asked. A giant trail in the sky? That made no sense…

…well, thinking about it now, neither did the information about Pelagia…

The Wanderer DID receive one clue from the message; the fight would take place in a desert. Calling Agro and drawing his sword, he climbed up onto his horse and riding off.

He still wondered why someone was talking about him, but he shook off the feeling…

-----

"Ptooey!" the Wanderer spat out for the tenth time, spitting out sand that had gotten into his mouth. He had followed his sword, and yes, he had arrived in a desert. The sun was blinding against the harsh, reflective sand, and his eyes watered a great deal as he strained them to see.

"Agh…this is getting me nowhere!" the Wanderer growled, leading Agro over to a broken-down rune platform for a break. He shook the sand out of his hair (which had, over the course of his task, turned from red to purple) and looked around. This seemed like the right spot…

_Rmblermblermblermble_

Agro whinnied nervously as the ground shook with tremors. Something was coming.

_SHOOM!_

(Yes, I know, crappy sound effects. I'd like to see you do better)

Suddenly, the ground in front of them exploded, and a giant snake-thing burst out of the ground, showering them with more sand. Agro reared up, frightened, and threw the Wanderer off into the sand.

"Gapthblg!" the Wanderer cried, getting a mouthful of sand. He slowly stood, shaking himself off and spitting out the sand in his mouth. "Fucking hor…" the Wanderer began, but stared up in awe as a giant, winged, serpent-like thing arched in the air, flying gracefully despite its size. It floated away from the Wanderer, flying across the desert.

"…What the hell is that thing?! A giant tapeworm?!" the Wanderer asked aloud.

"_**The power of the sword will not get thou close to it…"**_ Dormin's voice said to the Wanderer.

"Eh? Well, yeah, I figured that, but…" the Wanderer said, watching it. It seemed ever so peaceful as it flew across the sky, not even giving the Wanderer a second glance

"…_**art thou going to slay it?"**_ Dormin asked.

"Well, yeah, but…is this thing going to attack me?"

"_**Nay, Phalanx is peaceful. It shalt be an easy match for thee…"**_

"Wait, it won't attack?! But…" the Wanderer began, but Dormin's voice had already left him. He sighed; he didn't feel right killing something that wasn't going to fight back! Still…he climbed back onto Agro and, drawing his bow, kicked into the horse's sides, riding off.

It didn't take long to catch up with Phalanx, who was peacefully gliding along through the sky. Notching an arrow, the Wanderer took aim and fired.

_Whssssh!_

The arrow missed completely.

"Dammit…" the Wanderer growled, firing another.

_Whssssh!_

"Oh, come on…"

_Whssssh!_

_Whssssh!_

_Whssssh!_

The last arrow he fired hit Phalanx, piercing what appeared to be a giant air sac. It instantly shriveled, releasing black blood onto the sand. The Wanderer took aim, firing at the other two as well. After a few tries, he finally pierced all three.

"…Now what?" the Wanderer asked aloud.

Suddenly, Phalanx did a nose-dive, almost colliding with the sand. It lowered its fins, using them to hold itself upright as it trailed across the sand. The Wanderer noticed that there were rough ridges along its wings, just perfect for climbing on…

Kicking into Agro's sides, the Wanderer took off, chasing Phalanx. As they neared, they were greeted with a spray of sand that was stirred up by Phalanx's wings.

"Gapthblg! Ptooey!" the Wanderer coughed and spat, growling. As he neared, he steadied Agro, positioning him so he was running alongside the creature's massive wings. The Wanderer readied himself, and, when they were near enough, leapt off of Agro onto the wing.

The Wanderer was instantly swept away by the force of Phalanx's movements, and he almost fell off due to it. After getting used to the air currents, the Wanderer began to climb, hopping up the ridges and slowly making his way up to the colossus. As he neared the colossus' body, it suddenly rose up, leveling its wings again. The Wanderer leapt onto Phalanx's body, feeling the wind rip at his clothes as they flew.

He immediately ran at Phalanx's head, despite the wind's resistance. When he got there…

"What the hell!? Where's the sigil?!" the Wanderer yelled out.

(A/N: How many else out there made this mistake?)

In the back of his mind, he swore he heard Dormin laughing at him…

Cursing, the Wanderer raised his sword, finding the sigils to be not at the head, but apparently at three flaps along its snake-like body. The Wanderer ran along, finding it easier to run down Phalanx's body rather than up it. Coming to the first sigil, he raised his sword and stabbed into it.

Phalanx let out a roar, and its body jerked in midair. The Wanderer gave a start, but stabbed a second, third, and fourth time. Finally, the sigil vanished, and the Wanderer moved on.

Phalanx, however, had other plans. As soon as the Wanderer started to move, its body swayed, slowly at first. The Wanderer got confused, but gave a start and gripped onto some fur as the sways turned to rocks, in an effort to knock him off.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOAH!" the Wanderer yelled out as Phalanx's body turned completely in midair, doing a barrel-roll. The Wanderer held on as long as he could, but suddenly slipped.

"AA-ow" his fall was short, as Phalanx straightened out just at that moment. Collecting himself, the Wanderer ran down the colossus' body, hurrying to the second sigil. He quickly fell onto it, stabbing at it.

(A/N: okay, this next part IS NOT BATTLE STRATEGY, NOR DID IT TAKE PART IN THE ACTUAL GAME! It's just something I thought would be cool…)

However, as he raised his sword again, the flap suddenly shut around the Wanderer, washing him in complete darkness, the only light visible illuminating from the sigil.

"Eh!? What the hell!?" he yelled out, but suddenly felt Phalanx drop, and a loud burrowing sound was heard around them. The Wanderer couldn't believe it; he was underground, in a flappy-thing of a colossus!

'_Shit, shit, shit!!'_ the Wanderer thought, unsure what to do. He looked around at his confined surroundings, then back at the sigil. He raised his sword as high as he could, then forced it into the sigil.

Phalanx roared out, the roar trembling through the earth. The Wanderer couldn't pull out his sword in the confined area, so he instead twisted his sword, causing the poor colossus much pain. Blood spurted out of the wound violently, and with such little room o spray, quickly drenched the Wanderer as the sigil vanished. Soon, he felt Phalanx burst up, forcing him to hold on to his embedded sword and the bloodied fur. He felt the colossus level itself out, and was suddenly blinded by the harsh sun.

Coughing up black blood, the Wanderer realized that he was freed of Phalanx's prison. Eagerly, the Wanderer got up, stumbling a bit as he slipped on the soggy fur. He ran down to Phalanx's tail, the last sigil. He was instantly upon it, stabbing his blood-drenched sword into it. Phalanx roared in pain, trying to fight off the Wanderer but to no avail.

Soon, the final blow was dealt. Phalanx's body jerked in midair, momentarily stopping mid-flight. Its body arched as it collided with the sand, falling somewhat gracefully to its death. The Wanderer slid off of Phalanx's body, watching the black tendrils fly out from it. For once, he felt bad for killing a colossus.

His last thoughts before the tendrils took him were, _'I'm sorry…'_

----------------------------------

A/N: Yeah…a bit of a sadder ending…

See, Phalanx is a sad case for colossi; doesn't attack, doesn't really put up much of a fight, and is forced to die a grueling death. I actually felt bad as I killed it.

Anyhoo, yeah, school's gonna start up soon, so I might not be able to update very often

Not like I update often anyway…

Anyhoo, hope you liked it! Please review!

Next up, Cenobia!


	17. Colossus Mad, COLOSSUS SMASH!

A/N: Wow, it's been a while, eh?

Sorry I haven't been updating regularly. School's being a bitch .

Not to mention we had a math test that was formed in the vilest pit in the deepest bowels of hell…

Anyways, I'm really sorry. There's been a lot of tests and stuff, and I've been more preoccupied with school than this.

I think this is my biggest delay…I wonder if anyone's still reading this…

ANYHOO

Next up is…uh…-checks list- Cenobia!

Nope, didn't forget or anything .

You know, I like this one better than Celosia…this one was much funner :3

Despite the fact it took me forever to figure out how to kill him the first time .

Now, let's begin!!

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

--------------------------------

_KA-BOOOM!!!_

The Shrine of Worship shook violently as the thirteenth idol, representing Phalanx, imploded and fell to rubble. This loud noise echoing through the stone temple was enough to wake the Wanderer from his power-nap. He stirred, slowly coming to his senses. He was tired, so he didn't move from his position just yet. The ground was comfy…

That is, until something large and heavy with iron hooves decided to walk over him, stepping on his back.

"AAAGH!!" the Wanderer yelled. The yell startled Agro, who quickly reared up in shock. This gave the Wanderer time to roll away before the whole weight of his horse descended on his spine.

"Agh…" the Wanderer groaned, his back sore. "Fucking horse…" Agro whinnied a bit, shaking his head. Dormin's voice chuckled through the temple.

"_**That was dangerous, and yet entertaining to Us…"**_ They said.

"Shut up, you bastard!" the Wanderer yelled, slowly getting up to his feet.

"_**My, how harsh…"**_ Dormin commented.

"Harsh!?" the Wanderer yelled. "I got fucking stepped on!"

"_**And what doth thou want Us to do for thee?"**_ Dormin asked sternly. _**"Thou can tolerate it."**_

"Excuse me??" the Wanderer asked. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm only your little colossus slayer, considering I go in and risk my life every time without you giving a shit, but you get mad at me when I get hurt! I'm sorry I'm not your perfect little mercenary!"

"…_**Art thou done thy temper tantrum?"**_ Dormin asked. _**"There hath been many others who hath suffered through worse…"**_

The Wanderer growled lowly in reply. "I…you know what? Forget it. Just tell me whose next, so I can get the fuck out of here…" he said bitterly.

"_**Very well…"**_ Dormin spoke, _**"Thy next foe is…A guardian set loose…A closed off city beyond the channel…It lusts for destruction…"**_

Not even bothering to speak with Dormin, the Wanderer called over Agro and climbed on angrily. Kicking into the horse's sides, he sped off towards his next destination.

------

Agro skidded to a weary halt, the first one in the whole trip this time. The Wanderer, still upset over his sore back, had not let Agro stop for a break and now the horse was exhausted. The Wanderer used this pause to observe their surroundings; they were at the end of a path lined with small, ancient pillars, like a walkway. Ahead of them lay a cave, which sloped down to a small underground pool. Climbing off Agro, the Wanderer made his way to the lake's surface and dove in.

After swimming through, the Wanderer continued on, walking up a path. When he finally emerged…the sun blinded him.

"Aaagh!" the wanderer growled, covering his eyes with his arms. After getting used to the sudden bright light, the Wanderer looked around, realizing he was in some sort of ancient, abandoned city. He couldn't help but pause, looking out at the city. It was…wow. Whatever architect designed this place was a GENIOUS.

Seeing he was on a platform of sorts, the Wanderer jumped down, landing somewhat roughly on the ground. After recollecting himself, he walked through a tall opening, walking through a channel of sorts. When he finally came to its end, marked by a set of stairs, the Wanderer realized he was in an open field, surrounded by stone pillars and similar architect.

"Wow…" the Wanderer said. "This place is kinda cool…" His eyes drifted to a large, staircase-like monument. Adorning its front was a large statue of sorts. The Wanderer let out a slight laugh.

"Heh, they even got a statue that looks like…like…ah shit…" he cursed, seeing the 'statue' move.

It was similar to Celosia, both in size and stature. The only stark difference was that its face was covered with what appeared to be a mane of sorts, like a lion. It let out a growl, shaking itself off before bounding down the stairs, jumping straight to the ground. The beast then turned, charging…

…right for him.

"AAAAH!" the Wanderer screamed, and made to dive into the channel again, but was caught by a bucking colossus. It hit him square in the side, and the Wanderer could swear he felt something crack. His mind went blank for a moment, his vision spinning. When he finally regained himself, he realized that the creature had bucked him into the channel, and was now growling, waiting for him to move again.

"Oww…fuck…" the Wanderer grimaced, slowly straightening up. He growled at the creature, yelling, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

The beast growled, then backed up, turning around. The Wanderer used this minor opening to run up the stairs and onto the field.

"_**Heh heh heh heh…"**_ Dormin's crude laughter sounded in his head.

"Don't you laugh at me!" the Wanderer barked. "I almost died here!!"

"_**Thou art a mess…truly thou deserveth a rest once thy returns…"**_

"Eh??" this momentary pause made the Wanderer go off guard for a moment, and only the sound of the colossus' footfalls brought him back to his senses. Screaming, he dove behind a fallen pillar. A loud _SMACK!_ sounded, and the pillar shifted slightly. The Wanderer gulped, looking up over the pillar's edge. The colossus was backing up slightly, making to turn around.

"_**Climb the tower to draw Cenobia's anger…" **_Dormin said.

"Huh??" the Wanderer asked. He didn't have time to contemplate any more, as the colossus, Cenobia, charged at him. He instantly leapt onto the pillar, and braced himself as the creature slammed its stony head into the fallen pillar. The Wanderer growled, looking around. He didn't feel safe here.

When Cenobia retreated again, the Wanderer ran. He climbed from the fallen pillar onto an archway of sorts. Cenobia growled, following him.

"Shit…" the Wanderer growled, seeing a nearby pillar. There were ridges in it, just enough for him to climb. He leapt up onto the pillar, climbing to its peak.

Well, the good news was that the view was nice.

The bad news was that the Wanderer was trapped now.

Cenobia growled, backing up, and then charged at the pillar. It rammed into it with all its might, and the Wanderer was almost thrown off because of the force. When the colossus backed up again, the Wanderer growled, yelling, "And how's THIS gonna save me?!"

Dormin, however, was long gone.

"AAARGH!" the Wanderer yelled in distress. "You know, if you could give better advice, I wouldn-AAAGH!"

Cenobia had tackled the pillar again. This time, however, the force was enough to cause the pillar to sway, then slowly topple over.

"WAAAAAAAH!!!" the Wanderer yelled as the pillar crashed down. He held on with all his might, trying not to fall off or get squished.

_WHAM!!!!_

The pillar crashed to the ground. The Wanderer, still gripping the pillar's edge, was able to hold on. He blinked, confused, before climbing back up onto the pillar's side. The pillar had fallen, yes, but it now led to another archway, one that was previously inaccessible. The archway led to another set of pillars.

This gave the Wanderer an idea.

But he had to act fast; there was a seriously pissed off colossus on his tail.

The Wanderer jumped onto the archway, running along its length until he got to the pillar. He leapt, climbing up to its peak just as Cenobia rammed it. The force made it sway, but it still stood.

'_So I need two hits or something?'_ the Wanderer thought. He looked down at Cenobia, who seemed to be getting bored; rather than ramming the pillar, it just walked around it.

"Ah, come on, ya bitch!" he yelled, drawing out his bow and arrows. He notched an arrow, took aim, and fired.

The arrow clinked harmlessly off of the creature's stone armor, but it was enough. Newly-pissed, Cenobia reared up, backed a bit, and rammed the pillar.

As the pillar began to fall, the Wanderer readied himself. At just the right time, he leapt, grabbing onto the pillar in front of him as the one he was on fell. Time to start the process again.

This repeated three more times before the Wanderer had to leap onto another archway. He realized he was near a structure similar to the one Cenobia had been perched on earlier. Near it was another pillar.

Leaping to the structure, the Wanderer grabbed a hold of the ridges adorning it. He shimmied around its width, but was forced to stop as Cenobia rammed it.

"What the hell's wrong with you!?" he yelled at it. "Wait so I can kill you!!"

Cenobia just growled at him. The Wanderer growled back.

"_**Thou soundeth alike…"**_ Dormin commented.

"SHUT UP, YOU!" Dormin merely chuckled, fading away.

"God damn son of a fucking piece of…" Cursing under his breath, the Wanderer made his way to the lone pillar, climbing up its side. _"Gah,"_ he thought, _"this is like climbing a colossus…"_

Cenobia rammed into the pillar, almost causing it to topple over in one go. "Is that the best ya got??" the Wanderer taunted, firing another arrow at Cenobia. Angered, the colossus prepared to ram into the pillar.

It was only then did the Wanderer notice the wall next to him.

"Oh shi-"

_WHAM!!_

_CRASH!!!!_

The pillar in question toppled over, crashing _through_ the adjacent wall. The Wanderer was thrown off in a shower of rocks and stone, crashing hard into the ground. After regaining himself, he stood, realizing he was near the entrance he had come through.

He also noticed Cenobia trying to make its way to him through the rubble.

"OH SHIT!" the Wanderer yelled, ducking to one side. Cenobia ran right past him…

…and crashed into the support beam for the upper platform.

The stone above crumbled as its support beam was taken out, crushing onto Cenobia's head and back. The Wanderer watched in wonder, wondering if the beast had been crushed. He was proven wrong, as Cenobia slowly backed out of the rubble.

However, the falling rocks had crushed off much of its face and back armor, and a bright, shining sigil was visible.

"Aha!" the Wanderer cried out, but then paused at the beast's face turned to him. "Aw crap…" he said, running to one of the pillars. Cenobia chased him, ramming into the fallen pillar.

This time, however, the colossus let out a cry of pain, falling into a sort of stunned daze. Seeing this as an opening, the Wanderer leapt from the fallen pillar onto the creature's back.

"Take this, bitch!" he yelled, burrowing his sword into the beast's back.

Cenobia let out a cry of pain, trying to stand up, but received a second stab. It roared, trying to run away, but the Wanderer brought the sword down again, stabbing into its back.

Since it was a small colossus, like Celosia, this was all it took.

Cenobia paused in its tracks, swaying a bit before toppling over onto one side. The Wanderer let go of the small colossus' back, grinning from ear to ear.

"HA!" he mocked, pointing his sword at the beast's fallen body. "How d'you like THAT, huh?? I kicked your ass!!" he cheered.

His cheers were cut short as the tendrils burrowed into his body.

--------------------------------

A/N: I was listening to the official soundtrack to this game while I was typing this :3 I downloaded it off of Blue Laguna. It's quite peaceful, and epic, and whatnot :D

-cough- Anyhoo...

Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I'll try to write the next chapter as soon as I can, promise.

Please review!


	18. Why Must The Big Ones Thrash So Much?

A/N: Alrighty.

I've FINALLY been given a break at school, so I've decided to move right along on to Argus.

Oh, yes, Argus. Another colossal pain in the ass for me . 

How many of you out there had problems with this guy too?

Anyhoo, enough bitching. On with the show.

Sorry for such a long delay…

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

--------------------------------

The Wanderer was in some serious pain when he woke up in the Temple. He groaned, sitting up, a sharp pain going through the side of his chest as he did. He looked down, lifting his tunic slightly, and was shocked to find a large purple bruise. He gingerly touched it, and felt pain course through it. No doubt the bone was broken, too.

"_**That doth not bode well…"**_ Dormin said, a hint of concern in Their voice.

"Agh…No shit, Sherlock…" the Wanderer said through gritted teeth.

Dormin remained silent, watching the Wanderer. They could tell that the wound was serious, and if it got any worse, Their vessel may well die long before Their need of him.

Dormin's mind raced, trying to think of a possible solution; had They been fully restored already, such a wound could have been fixed easily. But since Their power was so limited, there wasn't much they could–

Wait a minute…

Dormin almost laughed to Themselves. Of COURSE there was something They could do. How could They have been so foolish?

"_**Be still…"**_ Dormin said, focusing on Their essence within the boy.

"Eh? What are y-GAH!" the Wanderer let out a sharp cry of pain, falling to one knee.

Unbeknownst to the Wanderer, Dormin was using Their essence to repair the young man's damaged rib. The pain was quite severe on the Wanderer's end, but soon the bone had been re-attached, any damaged tissue had been repaired, and the bruise had faded from dark purple to a dull yellow.

The Wanderer stared down in amazement at his flesh, touching it gingerly. "It…you HEALED it?!" he asked.

"_**Aye. We cannot hath thee going unto thy next foe with such a grave injury…"**_ Dormin said simply.

"…WHAT?!" the Wanderer exclaimed. "You mean you could have healed me all this time, and you didn't until NOW!?"

"_**Thou hath been quite capable by thyself…"**_ Dormin reasoned.

"Bull shit, you disembodied bastard" the Wanderer said, frowning.

"_**Well, if We hath known that thou woulds be such a disgraceful cretin, We woulds hath not even bothered to heal thy injuries…"**_ Dormin growled back; They had just healed this human, and he was talking back to Them?! Oh, when They got Their body back…

The Wanderer sighed. "Fine. Just tell me which colossal pain in the ass I need to kill off next is so I can go." When Dormin didn't reply, he added in, "And I'm sorry, all right?? Thanks for healing me…"

"_**Now, that was not a difficult task, was it?"**_ Dormin asked, appealed. _**"Very well. Thy next foe is…A giant hath fallen into the valley…it acts as a sentry to a destroyed city…"**_

And, as usual, Dormin didn't make much sense in Their riddle.

Shrugging it off, the Wanderer called over Agro and mounted him, riding off toward their next destination.

----------------

The Wanderer had found himself crossing through the sandy wasteland that he had had to get across to get to Celosia and Pelagia earlier. As he and Agro rode, he could see the giant canyon wherein he fought Celosia. Feeling nostalgic, he directed Agro to ride past the canyon, wherein he could see Celosia's remains; they were similar to the way Quadratus' remains were, only much smaller. Had the Wanderer been up close, he would have guessed that the giant pile of dirt looked roughly like the smaller, pig-like colossus.

After leaving the canyon, the Wanderer found that his sword had directed him to what appeared to be a giant desert fortress, carved seemingly right from the mountain it was situated in. He rode Agro up to the entrance of the fortress, but had to stop once he realized a pillar blocked the horse's path. After dismounting, he petted Agro's neck and took off, climbing over the pillar and into the fortress.

When he got inside, he had to stop and look around for a minute, marveled by the sheer size of this place. It was made almost entirely out of stone, and looked almost like a city walkway or an arena than a fortress. There were what appeared to be barracks along the stone walls, and they extended to far up the canyon, connected by stone archways. The Wanderer gulped; the colossus who lived here must be HUGE.

The Wanderer kept walking, going down the expanse of the arena. He stopped as he neared its edge, finding that it stopped abruptly and dropped down into a canyon below.

From this canyon, the Wanderer heard a shift of movement.

A large, stony hand lifted itself up from the canyon's edge, gripping the edge of the cliff. A second hand, holding a giant cleaver, followed suit, followed by a giant head and torso.

Oh yeah. This guy was big.

The beast heaved itself up onto the cliff, looking down at the tiny Wanderer. It let out a growl, then lifted its stony foot and made to stomp.

"Oh fuck!" the Wanderer yelled out, running away from the stomp. As he ran, he could hear the colossus following him, keeping up with ease.

"_**A battle on the ground is unfavorable against Argus. Find a place where thou hast an advantage..."**_ Dormin's voice hissed in his mind.

"And how, pray tell, do you expect me to do THAT?!" the Wanderer demanded."That doesn't help me, you know!!" but Dormin's presence had already left him. Growling, the Wanderer ran over to the stone wall, remembering the barracks. He jumped onto one of the many stone tiles that lined the walls, trying to get up to them. Suddenly, there was a loud _crash!_ and the Wanderer felt the ground beneath him raise up.

"Woah!!" he yelled out, falling over; Argus had stomped on the tile, and the weight of its foot had lifted up the tile, angling it just enough to reach the barracks above.

"Ha! Thanks, big guy!" the Wanderer yelled, climbing up the tile and leaping to the barracks above.

"_**Find much higher ground…"**_ Dormin's voice hissed to the Wanderer.

"What?! Higher!?" the Wanderer asked. "How the hell do I get higher?!"

The Wanderer's yell had caught the attention of Argus. The beast arched it's arm back, swinging the giant stone cleaver into the barracks.

"AAAAGH!"

_WHACK!!_

The Wanderer had to dive to avoid getting crushed by the rocks that had fallen. He looked at the rubble, then realized something; he could use this rubble to climb up to the top!

"Haha! You're doin' all the work for me, big guy!" he said, climbing up the rubble to the stony overhead above. He followed the path until he was at the top of the barracks.

This was perfect! He could EASILY jump onto Argus from here! He ran over to the stone archway, running along it's length and stopping in the middle. He looked down at Argus, grinning.

"Oy! Big guy!" the Wanderer yelled, shooting an arrow at Argus.

Argus, angered by the arrow, looked up at the Wanderer. It growled, then arched its arm back, slowly raising the cleaver.

It was then that the Wanderer realized that Argus could probably reach up here.

"FUCK!" he yelled, running back to the barracks.

_KA-RACK!!!_

The giant stone cleaver collided with the stone archway, crumbling it upon impact. The force of the blow caused Argus' hand to recoil back due to the force.

The Wanderer had just barely made it across in time to avoid getting smashed by the cleaver. He gulped. "That was close…" he said to himself. He looked down at Argus, noticing the colossus was moving. The Wanderer scrambled across the ledge, leaping off the broken edge just as Argus passed under him.

"Hi-YAH!" he yelled, stabbing into Argus' head as he landed. The colossus roared in pain, flinching slightly at the sudden pain that shot through its head. The Wanderer made to stab again, but was jostled out of position as Argus tossed his head violently. The Wanderer stabbed again, but was once again jostled out of position as Argus shook its head again.

"Fucking, STOP THRASHING!" he yelled, stabbing again. Argus roared, and thrashed even more, sending the Wanderer to and fro, hanging on for dear life. When Argus stopped thrashing, the Wanderer arched his sword and stabbed. This time, the sigil shone bright, then faded away.

Argus, however, still stood. It roared, shaking his head from side to side.

When Argus finally stopped thrashing, the Wanderer climbed up to his head, stopping on one of the colossus' giant shoulders.

"…crap…" he muttered; where was he supposed to stab?!

"_**Look for its hidden vitals…"**_ Dormin spoke to the Wanderer,

"Well, no shit, I couldn't fig-AAGH!" the Wanderer was suddenly tossed off as Argus shook his shoulder. He would have fallen off, but he was lucky to grab at his giant elbow. When the Wanderer realized where he was, he noticed a faint glowing spot beneath him. Eagerly, he raised his sword and stabbed.

What happened after all happened in a blur for the Wanderer; Argus' hand jolted, dropping the cleaver. It clutched its hand painfully, then shook it to regain feeling. The Wanderer was tossed effortlessly to the ground by the display.

"Agh…" the Wanderer growled, straightening himself. He had little time to recover, as Argus' now-free hand slammed down next to him. He leapt to the side, but froze; there, on his disturbingly hairy palm, was a sigil.

"Ha!" he yelled, running to the hand and grabbing onto it. "Take this!" he yelled, stabbing into it.

With that one final stab, Argus recoiled as if hit by a massive blow. He teetered, then fell forward, defeated.

"WHOOOO!" the Wanderer yelled, getting out of Argus' hand and watching as the creature was covered in blackness. "Take that! Only one left now!" he cheered, before the black tendrils burrowed into him and knocked him out.

--------------------------------

A/N: Wh00! Finally done!!

Sorry if the end was a bit rushed, I'm currently in the library at school, trying to finish this before I have to go back to class.

Anyways, please review! Only 3 more chapters until this is finished!!


	19. We Saved The Biggest For Last

A/N: Lookit here, we're on the home stretch!!

School's been taking its toll on me, and I've just got a new part-time job (at a place that sells manga! Fwee!!) that's been taking up most of my weekends…

And I've recently been obsessed with Persona 3…amazing game, go pick it up if you can (it comes with an art book and a soundtrack :D)

But I still have lunchtime in the library!!

_**THERE WILL BE TWO CHAPTERS COMING AFTER THIS ONE!!**_ So, keep reading!! We're almost done!!

But for now, on to the last colossus, Malus!

_**Dormin Speech  
**__Sound Effects  
'Thinking'_  
------------------------------------

The familiar rumble and ear-splitting crash that signaled the fall of another idol woke the Wanderer from his usual power-sleep after each fight. He let out a grown, slowly heaving himself to a standing position. He noticed that his muscles seemed to ache a little more than usual, and that his skin was paler than it had normally been. He cursed slightly, but the slight rumbling of Dormin's voice caught his attention.

"_**At last, thou hath finally awoken!"**_ the disembodied entity boomed, almost with a hint of joy in Their voice.

"You seem cheery…" the Wanderer commented, rubbing his sore muscles.

"_**Finally, the last colossus…"**_ Dormin said, Their voice oddly excited. _**"The ritual is nearly over…thy wish is nearly granted…"**_

The Wanderer looked out upon the temple walls. One by one, all the idols had fallen from his task, and now nothing but one remained. He couldn't help but feel proud of his accomplishments, and a grin found its way onto his face. "Sweet…" he said, a sense of joy swelling in his gut as he looked to Mono. Soon…

"_**But…"**_ Dormin's voice suddenly took a grave tone to it.

"But?" the Wanderer asked. "But isn't good…"

"_**Someone now stands to get in thy way…"**_

The sense of joy suddenly deflated from within the Wanderer, a feeling of fear replacing it. Someone…then, it dawned on him.

"Shit…not him…" he growled under his breath.

"_**Make haste, for time is short…"**_ Dormin urged.

The Wanderer nodded. "You got it. I'll finish before he even gets here" he said, whistling for Agro. The horse skidded to a halt next to him, and he quickly climbed on. Kicking into the horse's sides, the Wanderer took off.

Dormin watched as Their vessel departed the temple for the last time, heading to his final challenge. Their power and influence limited, the disembodied god's one final hope for freedom remained with this youth. They silently urged Their vessel on, hoping that the youth finished before his pursuers arrived…  
------------

Agro skidded to a halt just outside of a large stone cliff, in which appeared to be an intricate stone door. The Wanderer frowned, looking at the door. Now that he knew that he was being pursued by Emon's men (and Emon himself, if he was unfortunate), his previous carefree nature had dissipated, replaced with a sense of duty and haste. He needed to get this done. He had to. For her.

Noticing a small hole in the door, the Wanderer raised his sword. The beams of light instantly focused and fused into one, and he aimed the beam to the hole. At first nothing happened, but suddenly the door gave a jolt, then slowly swung inwards, opening. Kicking into Agro's sides, the Wanderer took off.

After climbing a small set of stone steps, the Wanderer urged Agro to stop as they came to a bridge of sorts, with gaps at each end. The Wanderer frowned; he couldn't make the leap…maybe Agro…

Getting an idea, the Wanderer made Agro back up a bit, then kicked hard into Agro's sides. The horse let out a whinny, rearing up and running for the bridge. When they neared the first gap, Agro leapt, easily clearing the bridge.

_Ka-rack!!_

"Eh!?" the Wanderer asked, glancing back. To his horror, he saw that the bridge began to crack under his and Agro's combined weight, and began to fall to the ground below.

"Dammit!" he cursed, urging Agro forward. The horse needed no encouragement, running with all his might across the crumbling bridge. With a final leap, Agro and the Wanderer finally cleared the bridge.

…or so they thought.

The end of the bridge they had landed on suddenly snapped, slanting down into the chasm. Agro's hoofs could not grip the smooth stone, and the horse began to slip. Whinnying in fear, Agro tried to hop up, only succeeding in bucking off his rider.

"Waah!" the Wanderer yelled out, flying through the air and hitting the ground hard. He rolled slightly, then stopped, facing back at Agro. "Agro!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and running to his horse's aid.

_KA-RUMBLE!!!_

Agro let out a distressed whinny as the bridge beneath him crumbled and fell to the canyon below.

"AGRO!" the Wanderer yelled out, watching as his horse crashed into the river below. He searched for some sign of life, but all was still.

"No…" he gasped, looking away. He felt utterly defeated, and almost felt like crying. That horse had got him through so much…even if most of their time spent together involved him getting bucked off and cursing violently at the horse's stupidity. However, The Wanderer noticed one thing; even in the end, Agro had thrown him off. Whether it was intentional or accidental, the Wanderer did not know.

But now, not only was he horseless, but he could not turn back with the bridge out. He slowly stood up, looking up at the impressive stone architecture that extended up behind him. It was either he succeeded and Mono gets revived, or he failed and dies at the hands of the final colossus.

'_No. I'm not losing'_ the Wanderer thought to himself. He would kill this last colossal bastard, avenge Agro, and revive Mono. Heck, maybe Dormin would be grateful enough to revive Agro too.

With newfound determination, the Wanderer set forward.  
------------

After scaling the architecture (and most of the cliff wall), the Wanderer finally found himself at the top of the cliff. During the time he was climbing, the winds had picked up and the sky had grown dark, and now a storm was raging. As the Wanderer climbed around one of the massive pillars he was on and leapt off onto relatively flat ground, the storm's force grew, and lightning crackled in the sky. This was a change, since when he had fought the other Colossi it had been relatively clear weather, so the storm was a surprise.

The Wanderer began to ascend the stone stairs, but then froze, his eyes wide at what he saw.

He was in what appeared to be an ancient battleground, with numerous rows of stone bracers lining the edges of what appeared to be trenches. The field was enclosed by cliffs on either side, closing in around the field and seemingly confining it.

And standing, almost as if it had been anticipating the tiny fighter, was the last colossus.

The Wanderer couldn't even think of anything to say about the behemoth. He had seen the beast's Idol in the Shrine of Worship, but he had no idea it would look so…formidable. It was easily the largest one he had fought, and looked more like a living fortress than any kind of living creature. It shifted slightly, looking down at its hands and clenching them slightly as it looked down at the Wanderer, thunder crackling behind it as it let out a slight growl.

Dormin had, indeed, saved the worst for last.

The Wanderer felt like a fly in comparison to this…thing. He shrank back, taking a step back down the steps as he waited for the beast to approach. He waited, before he made a somewhat calming realization; the colossus wasn't coming. Rather, it didn't seem like it could. This caused a slight grin to form on the Wanderer's face, and he began to climb up the stairs. _'If this guy can't move,'_ the Wanderer thought,_ 'then this'll be ea–'_

The colossus slowly raised up a massive hand, seemingly pointing at the tiny warrior. A slight crackle sounded, and before the Wanderer knew it, a large, glowing missile was hurled at him.

Quite quickly, mind you.

Yelling out in fear, the Wanderer ducked behind a large stone pillar at his right. The shot struck the pillar, as if it had been following him. The pillar withstood the hit, but there was a deafening _BOOM!_ as the shot connected, the ground trembling slightly as fragments of dirt and debris were sent flying into the air. The Wanderer, shaking, peered out at the beast from his hiding place.

No wonder the beast couldn't move; it didn't need to!

"_**There should be a place wherein thou can approach Malus whilst hiding…"**_ Dormin's voice hissed in the back of the Wanderer's mind.

"Good, because I sure as hell ain't running out there!" the Wanderer snapped at the disembodied god. "Save the worst for last, eh? Thanks a whole fucking lot!"

"_**At least thou can use thy experience from past colossi to slay Malus."**_ Dormin reasoned. _**"Use thy experience, and find thy path…"**_ Dormin's voice left him shortly after They spoke.

Growling, the Wanderer looked around, looking for this 'path' that Dormin had spoke of. He then noticed what appeared to be a hole, a little off. Perhaps a trench?

Of course…

Quickly, the Wanderer readied himself. Malus watched, waiting for the tiny creature to move. The Wanderer waited, then sprang forward.

Admittingly, the Wanderer was nearly hit by the shot that was fired, but he was able to get behind the bracer in time. He didn't hesitate, and ran to the next two, and then, with a quick roll, he made it into the hole.

He fell hard on the stone ground below, and it took him a moment to get his bearings straight again. Just as the Wanderer figured, the hole was actually an underground passage, albeit a little old and slightly falling apart. Shaking himself off, the Wanderer made his way through the tunnel.

_BOOOM!!_

The whole tunnel shook as a shot was fired above, and for a moment the Wanderer thought the tunnel would collapse. Fortune was with him, for the tunnel still stood. It seemed as if the colossus, Malus, knew that he was hiding there.

'_What, can this thing read minds, or see through dirt?'_ the Wanderer thought to himself. Nonetheless, he was safe so long as he remained in the tunnel. He followed the tunnel's length as it wound slowly back to the surface, opening into a somewhat narrow trenchway. Seeing a pile of broken stones, the Wanderer noticed, with grim realization, that he was going to have to risk bypassing the boss yet again. He climbed up the stones, cringing as Malus fired yet another shot at his direction. He immediately ran forward once he cleared the ledge, taking refuge behind one of the bracers. He looked out at the other bracers, then made a mad dash.

The Wanderer was able to clear most of the bracers with ease, but as he ran out of one of them, his foot caught something and he stumbled slightly. Because of this, he was unable to avoid the shot of impending doom hurling at him.

"AAAGH!!" he yelled out as the shot connected near his feet. The blast knocked him back, crashing into the back of the trench wall and falling, hard, against the stone floor. Pain ran up and down his body, and he vaguely wondered if any of his bones had been broken in the fall. After a moment, he slowly stood up, standing on shaky feet. His left arm felt numb, and he had numerous gashes on his body, but he apparently was okay.

He did NOT want to go through that again. He was lucky that he was able to stand at all!

Quickly, but more carefully, the Wanderer heaved himself back up over the stone and behind the bracer. Malus, apparently surprised that the tiny foe was able to survive such an attack, let out a growl of annoyance that rumbled like thunder. The Wanderer was able to run back across the bracers, being extra careful around the area he was hit last. Finally, he rolled into another tunnel.

He followed the path until he came to a ledge, which took a merciless drop down into a ravine below. Carefully, the Wanderer looked around, then noticed a narrow walkway leading to a ledge. The Wanderer ran along this way, leaping onto the ledge. His arm throbbed in protest at the sudden strain being put onto it, but he ignored it as he crawled along its length. Malus fired another shot that threatened to knock the Wanderer off the ledge, but he held. After leaping to the nearest platform, the Wanderer ran, seeing a small tunnel up ahead. He was almost hit by yet another shot, but he miraculously outran it. He ran through the tunnel, emerging at yet another series of bracers. They were much farther apart, and had to roll to reach each one before Malus' shots hit him, but somehow he managed. He ducked into another tunnel, running forward.

When he emerged, he realized that the shot ceased. Looking around, the Wanderer realized that he was _underneath_ the colossus.

After gazing in horror-filled wonder at the colossus' sheer being, he remembered his task and set forward. Climbing Malus' giant stone body was rather easy, and the only things he had problems with were the occasional shifts that made some ledges farther apart and harder to reach. After some climbing, the Wanderer had finally reached the colossus' massive midsection where stone fused with flesh and fur. The Colossus didn't even notice where the Wanderer was, since the Wanderer was behind the colossus' point of view, at its back.

Then, the Wanderer realized something; how the hell was he going to reach Malus' head?! There was a large stone breastplate on the colossus, cutting off any hopes of climbing straight up. He paused, thinking.

"_**Thou cannot reach Malus' vitals in the place where thou art…"**_ Dormin said to the Wanderer.

"No shit, Sherlock." The Wanderer growled to Dormin. "I can't fucking climb him!"

"_**Peace…"**_ Dormin reassured. _**"It's response will be thy road…"**_

"Eh?" The Wanderer asked, but then noticed that there was a slight glow on the monster's back. Grinning, he leaped up and climbed the monster's fur. When he was in position, he raised his sword and stabbed.

Malus instantly let out a cry of pain, and moved a hand to its back to examine the cause of the wound. Noticing all the fur on Malus' hand, and the fact that there wasn't any other way to proceed, he timed himself and leapt to the monster's hand.

Malus brought its massive hand up, examining the tiny thing that had caught hold of his hand. The Wanderer hung on for dear life, then noticed the hint of a glow on the beast's shoulder. When Malus raised its palm up, the Wanderer took his chances and ran up the beast's arm, grabbing onto the fur. He quickly raised his sword and stabbed.

A cry of pain signaled the Wanderer's success, and Malus' other hand reached over, covering the wound. The Wanderer grinned, leaping to the second hand. Malus brought over his other hand, twisting it slightly in hopes of knocking off the Wanderer. His sword caught on the creature's hand, unexpectedly stabbing it. Malus growled slightly, holding his hand out flat. The Wanderer took this moment to rest, looking around for any other weak points. Unable to see any, the Wanderer looked back at Malus' shoulder, getting an idea.

Quickly, the Wanderer pulled out his bow and arrows, taking aim at Malus' shoulder. He fired, the arrow flying true and hitting its destined target. Malus let out a cry, bringing his hand over and covering the wounded shoulder. The Wanderer was almost knocked off, but he was able to hold on. He almost laughed out of relief as he realized that Malus had formed a makeshift bridge from its shoulder to its head.

And to its sigil.

The Wanderer quickly leapt over onto the beast's stone armor, climbing up to the small patch of fur that resided in its stone helmet. Malus roared out, thrashing as best as it could, but the Wanderer held strong. He raised his sword, burying it into the monster's skull.

Malus cried out, flailing wildly. The Wanderer was tossed to and fro, and very rarely was he able to attack. Yet, even this monster had to rest every now and then, and the Wanderer was able to get in a few stabs.

Finally, the final blow was dealt. Malus let out a pained cry, clutching its head with its massive hand. Fragments of its stone body began to fall apart, until finally the beast collapsed upon itself. Since it couldn't topple over, it had simply fallen down, its stone lower half keeping it upright.

The Wanderer let out a cry of victory. Finally! He killed them all! Now he could revive Mono!

In his cheering, the Wanderer stumbled and fell off of Malus' massive, dead head. He cried out, but the black tendrils claimed him mid-fall. He didn't remember hitting the ground.  
------------------------------------

A/N: FINALLY! There we go, all the Colossi slain!

Remember, _**THERE ARE TWO MORE CHAPTERS AFTER THIS!**_ So keep reading:D

I probably won't update during Christmas Holidays, so I made this one longer. Hope you enjoyed it!

I'm off to drink Egg Nogg and play Persona 3 now!

Please review!


	20. Epilogue Part 1: Beginning Of The End

A/N: WH000!!

I'm back from Christmas Break!

Would have come back faster, buuuut…

I GOTZ GUITAR HERO III!!!

-dances-

All right! This is the SECOND LAST chapter I'm writing for this!

Finally, with the game's end, things will get exciting!!

I added on a little bit of Emon's dialogue. Even if I hate the guy's guts -.-

Also, I've been (more or less) following the Plot Theories from gamefaqs, but I've also added my own speculation. _**I REPEAT, THESE ARE MERELY MY OWN PERSONAL SPECULATIONS.**_ No facts, no "I'm right, you're wrong" here. Just what I _**THINK**_ happened.

_**I should make this clear that this is the END OF THE GAME. So, naturally, SPOILERS ARE ABUNDANT! **_

_**FAIRLY WARNED YOU HAVE BEEN!**_

_**Dormin Speech**_

_Sound Effects_

'_Thinking'_

-------------------------------

The thundering of hooves drew closer as the masked rider and a small group of his followers crossed the bridge and neared the Shrine of Worship. They halted just outside the temple, waiting as the large stone door slowly re-opened for them. They quickly dismounted their horses and went inside, plunging into the darkness of the enclosed chambers within the temple.

Quickly moving down the stairs, the group entered into the main chamber of the Shrine. To their horror, all but one of the sacred Idols remained standing; the rest lay in a pile of rubble.

The masked individual took a few steps forward, but halted as the building began to tremble.

"Lord Emon!" one of his men called. The masked man, Emon, turned, and his worst fears were suddenly realized. A piercing light began to seep through the Idol, and with a deafening _CRASH!_ the Idol shattered, falling into a pile of rubble.

"No…" Emon muttered. Inwardly, he cursed; they were too late.

Something at the other end of the temple caught Emon's eye. "Hmm?" he wondered, walking over. There, lying on the altar, was the body of a young girl.

So, THIS was what he was after?

--------

Meanwhile, far to the south of the Shrine of Worship, the sun slowly poured in through the parting rainclouds. The newly-felled Malus' stone body cast a long, eerie shadow along the battlefield as morning came, and cast over the body of the tiny being who had slain it. The Wanderer, now unconscious, slowly began to be lifted up into the air by some unseen force, back to the Shrine of Worship.

--------

Back at the Shrine, Emon was in the middle of performing a Chant for the Dead over Mono's body, his men standing nearby. However, in the middle of it, a small noise behind them caused Emon to pause and look to see what had made the disturbance.

To his surprise, it was The Wanderer.

He had somehow appeared, unconscious, on the ground in front of him. Off to one side, the Ancient's Sword fell, clattering and piercing into the nearby rubble of an idol where it became immobile, quivering slightly.

Emon and his men were silent, unsure of what to say. However, they were unable to say anything; at that moment, the Wanderer began to stir.

Pain was the first thing the Wanderer felt as he regained his consciousness. Slowly, he struggled to stand. He caught a glance of his hand and a pang of fear shot through his gut; his skin had turned a pale purplish color. There were some strands of hair in his face, and the Wanderer noticed that his hair had turned a sickly purple as well. He tried to speak, but his lungs burned, and he had troubles drawing in a proper breath. His vision was uneven, and his head spun due to the lack of air and pain. Unnoticed by the Wanderer, but a small pair of horns also adorned the sides of his head. Behind him, the shadowy silhouettes of humanoid beings crawled up from the ground, surrounding the Wanderer.

'_God damn it…'_ he cursed in his mind at the sight of Emon and his men. He thought he would be happy seeing other humans for so long, but all he felt was an impending sense of doom. That, and the immense pain.

"I don't believe this…" Emon gasped, shock adorning his face. This was quickly replaced with anger and betrayal. "So, it was you after all," he said sternly. "Have you any idea what you've done!?"

'…_Shut up'_ the Wanderer growled in his mind as he continued to get a hold of the ground beneath him. Since when was the Shrine's floor so uneven??

"Not only did you steal the sword and trespass upon this cursed land, you used the forbidden spell as well..." Emon scolded. As he spoke, two of his men began to walk forward, towards the traitor. Emon shook his head. "To be reduced to such a sight…"

'_I said shut up…'_ the Wanderer thought, slowly finding his footing and managing to stand. _'You're not my goddamn parent…'_

"You were only being used," Emon continued. "Do you think your motive justifies your actions?!"

'_You don't know the hell I went through…'_ the Wanderer growled in his mind, leering at Emon. _'But…it was worth it…'_ the Wanderer's eyes travelled to Mono. She was…still laying there?? What the hell?!

"Eradicate the source of evil."

At the command, one of Emon's men readied his crossbow, aiming at the Wanderer.

'_But…wait…'_ the Wanderer began to panic. Hunched over, he began to step forward, towards Mono. Perhaps she was just asleep? As he moved forward, his shadowy entourage continued to follow him.

"Look... He's possessed by the dead." Emon said. When his men failed to act immediately, he ordered, "Hurry up and do it!"

'_She should be awake…why isn't she awake?! God damn it, Dormin! I filled my end of th–'_

The Wanderer let out a sharp cry as a sudden pain pierced into the leg he happened to be standing on. He fell to the ground, clutching his leg; there was an arrow sticking out of it. He watched as the dark blood began to seep out, and he slowly turned to glare at Emon. Had he had the voice, he would have reamed the old priest out.

"It is better to put him out of his misery then to exist, cursed as he is." Emon said decisively. As he spoke, another of his followers drew his sword and walked over to the Wanderer.

'_Oh shit…'_ the Wanderer thought frantically as the masked man stood over him, sword pointed down at his chest. The Wanderer tried to move, tried to roll away, but he could hardly breathe, let alone will his aching limbs to move.

The man hesitated for a moment, then brought the sword down into the Wanderer's chest.

A sharp, searing pain pierced through the Wanderer, and he screamed; though, it only came out as a gargled gasp of sorts. Cringing with pain, he desperately grabbed at the sword, trying to halt the pain. He hardly noticed when his blood violently shot out of his chest; if he had, he would have seen that it was similar in how the blood sprayed from a Colossus's wound.

This startled the man who had stabbed him, and caused him to take a few steps back. Emon could only stare in shock as the Wanderer slowly rose to his feet, sword still impaled in his chest.

The Wanderer staggered, making his way over to the altar. His hand unconsciously reached out for Mono, desperately trying to reach her.

'_N-No…I…I have to…' _he thought, then looked down at the sword in his chest. No, that had to go. Grasping the blade tightly in his hands, he yanked it out, letting out another gargled cry. Darkness began to stem from the wound, flowing over his chest and threatening to envelop him.

'_I…I can make it…I…I have to…'_ the Wanderer thought, faintly feeling the sword slip from his grip and clatter off to one side. He couldn't properly breathe; his feet were achingly weak; his body felt heavy; his head was spinning; everything was fading…

The Wanderer fell forward, dead before he hit the ground. The darkness that seeped from his chest had slowly but surely covered his entire body, halting only once every inch of the young man's body was enveloped.

'…_poor thing…may the gods have mercy on your soul…'_ Emon thought, looking down at the Wanderer's dead body. Slowly, he turned to Mono, who had yet to move.

Meanwhile, far above, Dormin watched the scene unfold with mixed emotions. Even though he whined, complained, and nearly died several times, They had grown attached to the small Wanderer. To see him so close to achieving his goal, and to have it shot down like that was somewhat disappointing for the disembodied god; after all, it took time for Their resurrection powers to work.

But now, Dormin eyed the Wanderer's dead body with much envy, as he watched the shattered pieces of Their Essence flow and stitch back together into one entity. When Their Essence was solidified enough, Dormin made Their move.

"Uaaah!!" one of his followers suddenly yelled, causing Emon to turn. His eyes widened in shock at the sight.

The Wanderer's body began to alter and expand, being completely enveloped in shadows. It altered and took the form of a large beast, semi-transparent with two large horns sprouting from each side of its massive head. A pair of pale blue eyes glared down at Emon and his party.

"_**Thou severed Our body into sixteen segments for an eternity in order to seal away Our power…"**_ Dormin's voice boomed loudly as it echoed against the stone walls of the temple. _**"We, Dormin, have arisen anew…"**_

"It has been resurrected!!" Emon cried out in shock and fear.

"_**We have borrowed the body of this warrior…"**_ Dormin continued; They referred to the Wanderer as a warrior because after what THAT little guy went through, it was only fitting.

The small shadows lurking within the temple suddenly ran forward, assimilating themselves into Dormin's shadowy flesh. This caused Dormin to increase in size, and was now able to reach the very top of the temple simply by standing straight. Dormin raised a large, clenched hand and smashed Their fist into the ground at the followers.

"Place a seal over the entire shrine before it's too late!!" someone yelled; whether it was from Emon or a follower, Dormin was unsure.

They watched as the tiny humans began to run, slowly in Their eyes. Dormin almost laughed to Themselves, raising Their fist yet again.

'_Wait!!!'_

"_**Eh?!"**_

The voice that sounded was so sudden, so unexpected, that it caused Dormin's fist to miss its target entirely, leaving a sizeable hole in the stone floor.

'_What are you doing?! You'll kill them!!'_ Dormin could hardly believe what They had heard; sounding within Their mind, within Their very being, was the fallen Wanderer.

It appeared as if the young man's soul had assimilated in with Their Essence and became one with the former deity. Dormin let out a mental groan.

'_**We cannot believe this…'**_ Dormin replied within Their mind.

'_What the hell did you do to me, you bastard?!'_ the Wanderer demanded. _'I'm…I'm you now! And…what the hell!?'_

'_**Thy soul must have fused within Our own, and thus thou became part of Us…'**_ Dormin explained quickly, turning; one of Emon's followers had grabbed the Ancient's Sword.

'_So was Emon right!? Was all you were doing really just using me!?' _the Wanderer demanded. Dormin sighed; now was NOT the time!!

'_**At first, yes,'**_ Dormin replied, _**'But We…'**_

'_And now you're taking over me?!'_

'_**Truly, only thy corpse…'**_

'_Eh??'_

'_**Thou art dead. Did thou not realize that??'**_

'_I…I thought I only passed out!!'_ the Wanderer seemed to be in a panic now. _'So…I'm DEAD?!'_

'_**Only thy body hath died, thou fool!'**_Dormin growled, swinging Their fist at Emon's men, but they were able to outrun it. _**'And We have borrowed thy body. Now, allow Us to halt these fools, then We shall deal with thee!'**_

By this time, Emon had already made it to the staircase and was now quickly climbing the spiral staircase with his followers in tow. When they reached the top, Emon turned to his men.

"Ready my horse." He instructed. One of his men walked up to Emon, handing him the Ancient's sword before fleeing the temple.

Emon himself looked over the sword, concentrating on a particular spell. None of his power could truly seal the beast for good, but perhaps something temporary…

Fixed on his spell, the priest raised the sword over his head before dropping it into the pool below.

"Be gone foul beast!" he yelled as the sword fell.

It landed with a splash in the water below, and for a moment nothing seemed to happen. Then, the surface of the water began to glow, and sudden, strong force shot out from the portal. The force of the power knocked Emon's mask back as he watched, hesitating for a moment, before fleeing himself.

Dormin was unprepared for the sudden creation of the portal, and was even more surprised when They realized that it was sucking Them in. Frantically, the former deity grabbed at the ground, trying to claw away, but Their body began to fade, bit by bit.

Soon, all that remained of Dormin was a small shadowed figure, roughly in the shape of a young man.

"_**God damn you, Dormin!!"**_ the Wanderer's voice yelled as he ran futilely away from the wind. Even though much of the beast's entity was absorbed by the portal, the small portion which held the Wanderer's soul still remained, fighting against the inevitable.

"_**Fuck! I'm not fucking joining you, you bastard! I have to–agh!"**_ he stumbled, falling back. _**"No! I have to go see her!! You lied to me!!"**_the Wanderer continued to yell and scream and curse and fight against it, but he eventually was at the edge of the pool, holding on for dear life. He could feel his grip fading away, and he was already waist-deep in the portal.

Eventually, he tired out and his grip slipped.

"_**FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"**_

With a final cry, the Wanderer disappeared into the portal.

-------------------------------

A/N: ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT!!!

All right, I know I could have written more, but…eh…I got lazy xD

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed part one of the Epilogue! Stay tuned for part two!


	21. Epilogue Part 2: The End Of The End

A/N: You know, this story started exactly one year ago. Now, one year later, it finishes.

Epic…

Once again, adding my own speculations here. _**NOT ACTUAL FACTS FOR DOEMIN'S SEGMENT, JUST SPECULATIONS AND MY OWN INTERPRETATIONS.**_

_**SPOILERS ABUNDANT!**_

----------------------------------------

Atop the Shrine, at the Temple's entrance, Emon and his men had readied their horses and were now riding their steeds away from the Shrine of worship, across the bridge. As they rode, a pillar of support stones beneath them suddenly glowed. It emitted a bright light, then vanished; not implode like the idols, or crumble, but simply…disappear.

Having no support, the stones above crumbled, falling to the ground below. This continued for each segment of the Bridge, figuratively chasing Emon and his men as they rode to the safety of the cliffs on the other side.

----------

Back in the Shrine, all was silent; the winds of Emon's whirlpool spell had dissipated, and a solemn stillness fell over the Temple's interior. Not even the lizards, who frequently used the Shrine as a humongous jungle-gym, were present.

All was silent. All was still.

Then, a lone figure stirred to life.

Mono's eyes fluttered slightly as she awoke, seemingly from a long slumber. Her eyes squinted as they got used to the light, and then she turned her head, looking around; an unfamiliar setting met her eyes. The events from before were hazy, and she was unable to recall how she came here, or how long she had been 'asleep'.

Slowly, she found the strength to sit up, and get a better view of her surroundings; she was in a temple of sorts, on an altar in a long chamber. The walls were lined with slots filled with nothing but piles of rubble of what appeared to be old statues of sorts. The temple itself was warm, but a cool breeze trickled in through a wide opening behind her.

She stepped down from the altar carefully, for she had no shoes; the stone floor beneath her was warm and smooth, with just a bit of dust and debris. She looked around, curious as to where to go, or what to do.

Then, a soft whinny reached her ears.

Turning to her right, she spotted a black horse come slowly into the temple. Upon closer inspection, Mono realized the poor beast was limping. Quickly, she walked over to the horse, approaching it carefully and stroking the side of its head; the horse did not turn her away, and allowed her to pet it.

Mono was glad for the company of the horse, for its presence made her feel less alone in this unfamiliar temple. As she petted it, she took in the creature's characteristics; its charcoal-black fur, chestnut eyes, the soft patch of white in a diamond-shape on its head, and…riding gear?

Yes…though damaged, there was evidence of a saddle, and reigns, attached to the horse. Was there someone else here? Or maybe did she herself ride this horse to this place? No…she didn't recognize the horse. It belonged to someone else.

----------

Emon and his men reached the end of the Bridge just as the last few segments crumbled and fell to the lands below. Emon rounded his horse around, looking back at the Shrine of Worship.

"Poor ungodly soul…" he said, speaking softly and with a tone of sorrow. He looked down at the broken Bridge, and continued. "Now, no man shall ever trespass upon this place again." He paused, then looked up. "Should you be alive…if it's even possible to continue to exist in these sealed lands…one day, perhaps you will atone for what you've done."

After this declaration, he turned his steed around, and kicked into its sides, riding off with his men in tow.

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The Horse began to walk into the temple, deeper inside it. Mono followed the creature, stroking its neck. As they neared the back, a soft cry sounded from what appeared to be a small, empty pool. Mono stepped forward, and let out a small gasp.

At the bottom of the pool was a small infant child, crying. The baby lacked any clothes, and had a small mop of light red hair. Extending from the sides of his head was two small horns.

Mono hesitated; she had been taught, back in her village, that horns were a sign of demons or the work of a demon, and for a moment was hesitant to go near the child. But, her natural, motherly instincts kicked in, and she approached the child, picking it up.

"Shh…don't cry…" she crooned softly, stroking the baby's face. The baby's skin was cold, and she hugged him close to her to share her body heat with the child.

Mono turned back to the horse, but was surprised to find the horse was not there. Instead, the creature was slowly making its way up a spiral staircase. She hesitated, then followed it.

After a moment's climb, Mono found herself at the entrance to a large balcony-like structure. She gasped as she saw the vast expenses of fields below, and what appeared to be the runs of an old…she ventured a guess for a bridge. Seeing the horse begin to ascend a set of stairs to her right, and seeing there was nowhere else to go, Mono followed the horse.

The staircase led to a magnificent garden of sorts, with lush grass, small flowers, and big, looming trees. Mono gaped at the garden, surprised that sigh a cold-looking building could house something so magnificent; even the young child stopped his crying, seemingly shocked at the garden. Small birds chirped as the girl and the horse walked through and towards the center of the garden, and even caught a glimpse of a squirrel scurry by.

Off in the distance a bit, a young deer noticed the two. It paused, its ears flicking a bit, then walked cautiously over to them. Carefully, Mono extended a hand out to the deer, who gingerly sniffed it.

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Far 'below' the temple, as that was the view They perceived, Dormin watched the scenes unfold within Their Shrine. It turned out the old Shaman's spell was a minor binding spell, not unlike the one that held Them previously, but many times weaker. They had also been transported outside the realms of the Living, and could only watch, not interfere.

To be perfectly honest, Dormin had been surprised when They saw that the young Wanderer's body and soul had reverted to infancy, the human's only truly pure stage. Still, the boy bore the horns that marked Dormin's power. Though the binding spell upon Their being was temporary, it held fast; this boy would no doubt be the link to it's gradual release.

But for now, the disembodied god was content with watching, and waiting.

This would be interesting.

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A/N: There.

Done. Finally.

I want to formally thank each and every one of my readers and reviewers for making this story such a success. Thank you all for reading this, and allowing me the ability to continue it to its finale.

I may or may not write another SotC fic, but feel free to look at my profile for any story updates.

Until next time, people!


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